God of War's Inferno
by Lily Nadesico
Summary: An unexpected encounter in the Temple of the Fates causes Kratos to adjust his goals, sparking a chain reaction of unexpected events that will change history forever. Can the Ghost of Sparta escape his fate? Rated for violence.
1. Chapter 1

**God of War's Inferno: A New Path**

**A crossover fanfiction by Lily Nadesico**

**oooooooooo**

**Hello, everyone!**

**It's been quite a long time ever since I published a brand new fanfiction on this site. And, truth be told, I have been slacking off in updating certain stories. I apologize for that, and I can assure you that many of my stories, especially my Pokemon epic, will resume as soon as I have a little more time. For now, I am getting quite a few ideas, and I have this overwhelming urge to write them down on paper. Or, in this case, on a text file.**

**This one story isn't anything that great, if I have to be frank. It was something that crossed my mind one day, and I decided to write it for fun, hoping that someone else might like reading it just as much as I hope to enjoy writing it. Therefore, buckle down and get ready for jumping back in time, to an era where the Olympian Gods ruled over Greece, and a lone cursed Spartan warrior terrified the lands and the seas. Of course, I am talking about Kratos, the Ghost of Sparta, slayer of gods and bringer of destruction.**

**Yeah, I know, it's a rather unusual story to write for me. After all, I tend not to like villain protagonists, but Kratos is one of the few exceptions to the rule. For some reason, I can sympathize with Kratos, in spite of the terrible things he does. Maybe because the God of War games are very much a matter of Evil vs Evil, or maybe because I can actually feel sorry for him... well, in any case, in this story, Kratos will get a chance to change his fate, and you can bet he's going to stop at nothing in order to do just that. However, as Kratos makes an unexpected choice, unforeseen consequences will arise, which not even the Oracle of Delphi or Zeus himself will be able to predict.**

**God of War, Dante's Inferno and all related names are trademark of their respective companies. This story has been written for entertainment purpouses, and the writer gains nothing from it.**

**Well, this is pretty much all I can say at the moment. I hope you'll find this first chapter to be interesting... and I hope you will be kind enough to leave me a review! See you soon!**

**oooooooooo**

**Chapter 1 - Ripples**

"I... I have come too far to fail!" a weary yet determined voice came from the utter darkness that invaded the shrine, as Kratos' supernaturally honed senses felt his invisible opponent throw himself at him, and the audible sound of metal scraping upon metal told him that a sword was being unsheathed. Scowling in annoyance, the warrior known and feared throughout the whole Mediterrean as the Ghost of Sparta grabbed the Blades of Athena and sharpened them one against the other, getting ready to counter the attack. With the patience of a hunting wolf, Kratos waited for his opponent to come closer and skillfully dodged a slash from his sword, easily predicting where the blade would have cut the air even without the luxury of vision. Then, Kratos brought his arm forward and delivered a powerful blow to his unseen opponent's midsection, knocking the wind out of him and forcing him with his back to the barrier of colored glass that made up most of the dark room's wall. Then, with a powerful lunge, Kratos threw himself at his opponent and held him in a deadly grab, before launching himself at the fragile glass and shattering it with a deafening sound! The opponent let out a pained grunt, and both he and the former Spartan general fell for quite a long while before landing harshly on a solid marble pavement, several feet below them. In his battle frenzy, Kratos drew one of his twin blades and prepared to drive it into his stunned opponent's flesh...

But, in a moment of clarity, the ferocious Spartan warrior managed to take a look at the one who had tried attacking him, and the stunning realization stayed his hand as he saw he was throttling a soldier wearing the typical arms and armor of one of his former warriors, many of whom had fallen in the ill-fated attack against Rhodes! In fact, Kratos was able to recognize him as the last survivor of his army, the one who had greeted him when he was back from the realm of the dead.

"You?" Kratos asked, in a mixture of incredulity and rage.

The Spartan soldier caughed a little as the fallen god of war relinquished his hold upon his throat, and after getting some breath back in his lungs, he looked up at Kratos. "My... my lord..." he mouthed, almost as if he was ashamed at not having recognized his mighty leader in the dark of the room.

Kratos' surprise soon turned to anger, and he grabbed the soldier by the chestplate, shaking him violently. "What is the meaning of this, Spartan? What are YOU doing here?" he bellowed. "I told you to go back to Sparta! How is it that you have left our polis unguarded?"

The Spartan soldier grit his teeth, as the moment he had dreaded the most had come. "My lord..." he mouthed, after making sure he was mostly uninjured. By some incredible stroke of luck, Kratos had recognized him and interrupted the battle before mortally wounding him. "I... I regret to inform you that... Sparta is no more."

Kratos was unable to speak for all of two seconds, after which he quickly went back to roughtly questioning the exhausted soldier. "What? What treachery is this, Spartan?" he exclaimed in fury. "How could Sparta possibly have fallen?"

"This... this is no treachery unfortunately, my lord..." the young soldier answered. "Zeus... he came into Sparta under the cloak of darkness. I and two of my comrades in arms were watching over the polis from the top of a watch tower, the night in which I had managed to come back to Sparta... Suddenly, lightning bolts began raining from the sky without warning, destroying watch towers, and killing people everywhere. Then... right in front of everyone, Zeus came down upon the city, dwarfing all with his sheer size. I... I personally saw him grab a tower from the ground and toss it away like a child would discard a broken toy. In mere minutes, Sparta was in ruins, its population slaughtered in order to set an example to thosewho would challenge Zeus' will. I was the only survivor of all my comrades... the people cried for you... they begged for their god to come and save them... But you did not come."

Stunned, Kratos relinquished his hold on the young soldier, who took a couple of breaths before standing up shakily and continuing his tale. "I was left with no choice but to search for the Sisters of Fate, in order to change the fate of our beloved Sparta, for I was all that was left." he murmured.

A dark scowl was on Kratos' hard face, although he seemed to have calmed down somewhat. However, it wasn't a reassuring type of calm. The embers of Kratos' rage were still simmering underneath the surface, and were ready to flare out as soon as they got the chance. The gods were toying with him again... they were setting him up to once again kill someone who had faith in him... it was sheer luck if that hadn't come to pass.

Seemingly oblivious to the surviving Spartan, Kratos paced towards the huge columns on the other side of the clearing both men had fallen into... and in his rage, he raised his head and let out a rage-filled scream! "ZEUUUUUUS! IS THIS HOW YOU FACE ME, YOU COWARD? I am through doing the bidding of the Gods! I grow tired of their lies! Come down here and face me now if you dare, Zeus!" he bellowed, his screams echoing through the immense complex and causing the young soldier to take a step backwards in sheer awe. With a heavy sigh, Kratos finally calmed down and glared at the uncaring columns, his mind wandering to the thought of what he was about to do... and of what he had done in his blind rage, all those years ago...

That time, it was his rage and his blindness that caused him to lose his family... just as, this time, his rage and blindness had almost caused him to do something else he would regret...

"My lord?" the last remaining Spartan ventured as he saw Kratos taking a few rage-filled breaths.

"This is... just like that time..." Kratos muttered, more to himself than anyone else. So entranced he was in his own guilt and rage, that he did not react when a large tentacle wrapped itself around one of the huge columns in front of him, closely followed by another one... and soon after, a monstrous shape dragged itself out of the water-filled pit it had been laying in wait, its hideous maw stretching impossibly wide in a face that had some very passing resemblance to that of a human being, and was all the more hideous for that! A rubbery, mottled green hide, covered in iron-hard scales, covered the horror's deformed body, armed with sharp barbs that seemed to jut out of the monster's body at random parts, and a pair of blood-red crazed eyes glared at the Spartan general and his warrior with greedy hunger!

The Kraken let out a mighty roar, showering Kratos in foul-smelling saliva and almost shattering the young Spartan's eardrums... but this act seemed to snap Kratos out of his funk, and the enraged Ghost of Sparta grabbed the Blades of Athena once again and got ready to fight, just as a rubbery tentacle sliced the air and bore down upon him! Kratos slashed twice with his left blade, intercepting the flailing appendage in midair and causing the Kraken to roar in pain and anger as it retreated its offending limb!

Kratos grit his teeth and prepared to attack again, when the young Spartan came up at his side, his shield still up and his spear raised high, in the Spartan's typical guard pose! "My lord... please allow me to fight at your side! I might be of some use to you!" he said. Kratos could see that the young man was clearly afraid of that horrific creature, but he would not back down, and privately praised the young soldier for his bravery in the face of danger.

However, Kratos also knew that he would not be able to last long against such a creature. "Stay out of this, soldier!" he exclaimed angrily. "You would only get in the way! I have to deal with this foul thing... myself!"

Gritting his teeth in anger, Kratos glared at the monster, trying to find a vulnerable spot in its immense body. As a seasoned warrior and the former god of war, it was easy for him to locate the eyes and the throat of the Kraken as its most vulnerable spots, but the problem was going to be how to get there, or at least how to wound the Kraken in a significant manner. Then, he realized that he and the last spartan were standing on some sort of iron grill, and a faint hot wind was blowing from below them. If only he could find a way to intensify the wind, he could use the wings he had taken from Icarus to get up to the Kraken's face and attack it.

The question was... how to achieve that?

The Kraken was not going to wait for Kratos to come up with a possible answer, and once again tried to strike him with its tentacles, bringing its powerful boneless limbs in a powerful arc across the small plaza. As he jumped up to avoid the first strike, Kratos could see his last remaining soldier reluctantly getting away and getting out of the hideous thing's reach, but still keeping his shield and spear high. Now fully concentrating on his opponent, Kratos swung the Blades of Athena and slashed the Kraken's tentacle... though, compared to the sheer size of the beast, such a wound was barely more than a paper scratch. However, he had managed to annoy the beast, and now the Kraken was beginning to flail way at the Ghost of Sparta in a frenzy. Kratos knew that in its rage, the Kraken was more likely to commit a mistake, and advanced towards it, still slashing with his blades and waiting for an opening...

Enraged at the sight of that puny mortal challenging it and actually managing to wound it a little, the Kraken raised its left tentacle, revealing a square panel right below the column it had wrapped its limb around. Kratos did not miss that particular... and as soon s the Kraken brought its heavy limb down again, he felt that the stream of warm air coming from below him was increasing just a little. That could be his chance... it was obvious that the panel controlled the stream of hot air, and if he was to keep it pressed...

The Kraken raised another tentacle, this one topped in an iron-hard black spike, and tried to impale Kratos upon it... but the Spartan general quickly rolled out of the way, causing the tentacle to embed itself on the marble floor, and the Kraken to roar in rage as it tried to dislodge the limb. Having gotten the distraction he needed, Kratos quickly reached a raher large piece of stone that the monster had broken from one of the columns as it was surfacing. He quickly grabbed the large rock, encircling it with both arms, and lifted it with some effort, before lifting it above his head and taking careful aim. Kratos grit his teeth as a tentacle smacked the floor dangerously close to the place he was standing on, and used all of his strength to toss the boulder towards the panel the Kraken was "guarding". It landed right on the target with a loud crash, and immediately after, the stream of hot air increased, and the incensed Kraken spat out a glob of corrosive bile at its opponent, who barely managed to roll out of the way, received a few drops of the lethal liquid on his back as he stood up. Kratos shrugged off the pain and did a quick roll towards the hot air stream, before spreading Icarus' Wings and letting the wind take him up and up... until he was just a little above the Kraken's hideous head!

Before the surprised Kraken could react, Kratos folded his wings and spun around, slashing outwards with the Blades of Athena and striking the monster's face multiple times, drawing rivulets of foul-smelling green blood as the Kraken roared in pain and rage. Its left tentacle dashed forward, trying to impale Kratos as he was landing... but another powerful slash from the Blades of Athena swayed the blow, and caused the monster to once again stab the floor. This time, however, Kratos quickly ran up to the tentacle before the Kraken could get free, and began climbing upon the masive limb, using his blades to help himself up. He reached the joint, upon which the iron-hard membrane connected with the Kraken's rubbery hide, and delivered a powerful slash that broke apart the natural protection and caused the Kraken to roar again, this time in alarm! A ring of raw, pink flesh remained exposed as the Kraken's protection broke, and Kratos stabbed the vulnerable part with the Blades of Athena, before launching himself up and using his extendable weapons to execute a flawless acrobatic move around the weakened appendage. He quickly did a loop around the tentacle and struck with his blade, causing the boneless limb to be hacked away from the body in a fountain of foul-smelling gore!

The Kraken roared in pain and rage as it retreated its mutilated limb, while the severed tentacle fell to the marble floor and twitched a little more before immobilizing. The gargantuan beast, thirsty for revenge, began whipping the air with its remaining tentacles, and a stray hit struck the Ghost of Sparta in the chest, sending him tumbling to the ground! The white-skinned warrior spat out a little blood and stood up again, only to get wrapped by the Kraken's other main tentacle. The beast squeezed tightly and began dragging Kratos towards it, while the cursed warrior began struggling for all he was worth and trying to loosen the tentacle's grip around his body, even as he was getting the breath squeezed out of him. Gritting his teeth in anger and pain, Kratos managed to free one of his arms and stabbed the Kraken's tentacle... but he was unable to put much strength in it, and the blade only managed to nick the monster's rubbery hide, bouncing upon it.

Kratos slashed again, but the Kraken had managed to regain its momentum and was squeezing tightly, smothering the Ghost of Sparta in its iron grip. It was getting harder to stay concentrated, and his sight was becoming blurred from lack of air... but even so, he was able to make out the shape of the young soldier he had narrowly avoided killing, who was now approaching the battlefield, wielding his spear tightly and keeping his shield up. He seemed to be trying to find a good place to make his stand, and to keep himself out of the reach of the Kraken's smaller tentacles... and finally, he stopped and took aim, just as the Kraken took notice of him and regarded him with an almost mocking glance. The monster seemed to be both annoyed and amused that such a puny creature was about to challenge it, while Kratos, even as he was getting the breath squeezed out of him, asked himself what was the soldier going to do. The young man was obviously no match for that hideous creature...

In a moment of pure tension, the young Spartan took a few steps and, braving the Kraken's tentacles, tossed his spear with all of his strength, aiming for the horror's monstrous face. Caught off guard by that unexpected display of courage, the monster failed to see the attack coming in time, and the javelin struck it in one of its bloodshot eyes, causing it immediate and searing pain as it stumbled backwards and released its hold on Kratos! The beast's pained roar echoed throughout the place, and Kratos landed on his hands and knees, trying to catch his breath before the Kraken recovered. The hideous thing raised its remaining main tentacle in rage and tried to impale Kratos with it, but the former god of war stood his ground and grabbed the tip of the Kraken's appendage as it was about to impale him, before pulling with all of his might and driving the iron-hard tip of the tentacle into a nearby marble column! In its rage, the Kraken tried to dislogde its tentacle from the column, but Kratos was faster than it, and used the Blades of Athena to grab the still-functioning appendage and lift himself up, once again executing a flawless acrobacy around it. He landed on the iron-hard spike on the tip of the tip of the Kraken's tentacle and hacked away at it until the protection on the joint broke with a loud clang, once again exposing the raw, unguarded flesh on the monster's appendage. In a flash, Kratos repeated the same process he had done with the first tentacle, wrapping the chains of the Blades of Athena around the Kraken's limb and vaulting around it, before hacking it away with a single, powerful slash! Now left with no tentacles to hold itself up, the Kraken roared in agony and sunk back into the abyss it had crawled out of, only managing to use its smaller tentacles to keep itself from falling. It roared in agony and began trying to climb back up again, but its smaller tentacles failed to hold up its massive frame, and it could do nothing but glare hatefully as Kratos approached the border of the pit, ready to finish it off.

The Ghost of Sparta grabbed a lever that seemed to have been conveniently placed on the edge of the ravine, and pulled towards himself with all of his divine might. Immediately, a large marble bridge shot out from under him and rushed towards the Kraken, who roared one last time before the bridge struck it right in the mouth, ripping through its body and exploding out of the back of its hideous head in a shower of gore! Its roar became a low, chilling gurgle and began whipping its tentacles in every direction in its last throes. It continued writhing for a few seconds, its boneless arms grabbing frantically at the bridge... before its resistance ceased, and it slumped lifelessly.

Kratos took a deep breath in order to get his breath back in his lungs and regarded the corpse of the Kraken in grim satisfaction. Right behind him, the last Spartan sighed in relief and tentatively approached his lord, who was standing tall, his white skin matted with blood and sweat, on the edge of the newly created bridge.

"Spartan!" Without even turning, Kratos called out to the last remaining of his disciples, who stood firm in his place and awaited for his lord's next words. The former god of war turned in the young soldier's direction and, without losing his hard expression, nodded once in approval.

The last Spartan stood tall in a gesture of respect towards his lord, then looked at the sight that had appeared right behind the Kraken's still body. A large bird of prey whose feathers seemed to be made of pure fire was standing on the other side of the bridge, seemingly waiting for someone to come to it. After a few moments of silence, the young soldier finally spoke up, addressing his lord. "Lord Kratos, is that...?"

"The Phoenix. The legendary creature who rises from its own ashes." the Spartan warlord explained, without even blinking. "I will use it to travel to the temple of the Fates, and make sure Zeus won't even lay a hand on Sparta."

"And what am I to do, my lord?" the Spartan soldier asked.

Kratos paused for a few seconds before answering, which the younger man thought to himself was somewhat unusual of his self-assured lord. "My orders to you are to stay alive. Soon, Sparta will rise again, and this nightmare will be over."

The young soldier was a little disappointed about not being able to join his lord in this endeavor, but as a faithful Spartan soldier, he knew better than to oppose orders. "I understand, my lord." he answered, retrieving his spear from the Kraken's eye and standing at attention. "If that is the case... I'll have faith that our comrades in arms will soon be back, thanks to you."

Kratos nodded again and began walking towards the Phoenix, the Blades of Athena tightly held in his hands. As he approached the fiery bird, the Spartan warlord frowned in determination. Yes, he would bring back his soldiers and get his revenge... but there was something more to it. Maybe... just maybe... this was his chance to undo the mistakes of the past. Maybe, if the gods weren't going to take his nightmares and his torment away, this was his chance to do it himself.

Maybe this time, things would be different.

With a renewed determination, Kratos advanced towards the Phoenix, ready and willing to reach the Fates and change his fate...

A small ripple in the flow of time... which might become a tidal wave that completely changed history.

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**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	2. Struggling Against Fates

**God of War's Inferno: A New Path**

**Hello there! I managed to update sooner than I expected!**

**This chapter deals with the battle against the first two Sisters of Fate, Lachesis and Atropos. There will be nothing much to add to the events of God of War... but from next chapter onwards, the plot will actually start going off the rails! Stay tuned, and enjoy the ride!**

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**Chapter 2 - Struggling Against Fates**

The path through the Temple of the Fates had been a long, grueling one... but at long last Kratos had managed to gain access to their innermost sanctum. As the improvised battering ram he was using smashed through the huge marble face, Kratos jumped into the hole he had just obtained, Blades of Athena drawn and ready for a battle as the slabs off marble littered the floor around him. The Spartan general, always on alert for any danger, looked around and carefully advanced, his sense drawn to the point where he could swear he was hearing voices inside his head.

"_THE CONFRONTATION WITH THE FATES IS AT HAND, KRATOS._" an imperious, yet almost too polite female voice said inside his mind. Kratos frowned, immediately recognizing that voice as the one belonging to Gaea, the female Titan that had helped him undertake that almost-suicidal task. "_I TRUST YOU ARE READY TO FACE THEM AND THAT YOU WILL KNOW WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU'LL WIELD THEIR POWER._"

"You need not worry about that, Gaea." Kratos said, not in the mood to discuss any further. He really couldn't care any less about the Titans or theirgrievances with the Olympian Gods, but since their objectives were similar up to a certain point, he might as well pretend he was on her side all along. "I know what I am going to do when I'll have killed the Sisters. The rest is none of your concern."

"_GOOD._" Gaea's telepathic voice said. "_WE EXPECT MUCH OF YOU, SPARTAN. DO NOT DISAPPOINT._"

Kratos snorted as Gaea's mind link ceased, and after going through a couple more darkened corridors, the Ghost of Sparta finally found himself in what looked like a huge theater, decorated in strange, threatening motives, with three huge mirrors placed at the sides of the main platform, several meters below. Several strands of what looked like the web of a gigantic spider connected the main platform to the rest of the complex, and the silece and feeling of menace hanging in the air were simply overwhelming, even for a seasoned veteran such as him.

The Throne of Lachesis. There was no mistake about it. Never changing his expression, Kratos stepped forward and jumped towards the main platform, spreading the Wings of Icarus in order to slow down his fall. He landed flawlessly on the main platform and advanced towards the mirror in the center, but his senses immediately picked up the barely noticeable movement of someone, or something, moving close to him...

"We've been expecting you." a soft yet steely female voice said, coming from above Kratos. The Spartan warrior lifted his hard gaze, just in time to see the one who had just spoken swoop down, majestically sliding down and landing in front of him. It was a coldly beautiful woman with dark skin and solid white eyes, wearing an aloof yet at the same time amused expression of her helmeted head, and holding a simple hooked staff made in grey steel in one hand, as long as she was tall. She was wearing a strange sort of battle armor that exposed her left breast, and her wrists and ankles were decorated with golden bracelets and jewelry. A large mantle was on her shoulders, billowing out as if its was being moved by some sort of magic wind. Kratos immediately recognized her as Lachesis, the measurer of the thread woven by Clotho's spindle, and the one who decided how much time for life was to be allowed for each mortal, and every mortal's own destiny.

However, Kratos was not going to be deterred, and advanced threateningly towards Lachesis. "Get out of my way." he stated simply, which only drew an amused chuckle out of Lachesis. The supernatural woman was regarding Kratos like a human would regard an ant to be stepped on.

"Your resolve is admirable. Alas, it is also misguided." she calmly stated. Now her voice had taken a strange, otherworldly quality, as if there were two people talking at the same time. Floating a few inches above the floor, Lachesis went around Kratos, her cape billowing ominously behind her back. "None can change their own fate, Kratos. We, the Sisters of Fate, determine the destiny of all. It is I who decreed that the Titans would lose the Great War. And it is I who allowed you to get this far. There is nothing you can do, Kratos. Spare yourself further pointless suffering and resign to your fate. It is not your destiny to kill Zeus."

Lachesis placed a cold hand upon Kratos' shoulder, which the Ghost of Sparta swiftly shrugged off as he turned around with his blades drawn. "You do not control your destiny anymore." he stated simply.

Lachesis giggled arrogantly. "I see Gaea has seduced you with her lies." she went on, lording her perceived superior position over Kratos. "You have always amused us, mortal. But know this. I am only fighting you now to humour you before I destroy you. You can never defeat us. There is no power greater than the Sisters of Fate. If you challenge us, you will die."

"Spare me your words, Lachesis." Kratos cut the discussion short, rushing the supernatural woman with the Blades of Athena drawn. He executes a mightly roundabout swing, aiming at the creature's neck... but Lachesis, without even changing her expression, rose up in the air so quickly she might as well have disappeared and reappeared a moment later. She twirled her staff in her hand and tried to impale Kratos on its sharp hooked end, but thewarrior quickly rolled away and stood up, wirlding his mighty blades.

"Huhuhuhuu... what's up, Kratos?" Lachesis taunted him. Kratos slid into a guarding position, but he was caught off guard when his opponent disappeared from his sight... and instantly reappeared right behind his back. "Am I too fast for you to keep up with?"

Reacting with lightning quick reflexes, Kratos managed to avoid the pointy end of Lachesis' rod, which was threatening to impale him in the chest, and swifty rolled away before Lachesis could press her attack... but the woman was undaunted, and fired a green beam of energy from her staff, hitting Kratos just as he was about to stand up, and knocking him to the ground with a pained grunt. With a short laugh, Lachesis fired another energy bolt, but this time, the spartan warrior managed to roll away, and the attack hit the ground, leaving a large gash and a pile of smoldering marble. Kratos tried to stand up and attack again, but once again, Lachesis was too fast for him, and reappeared behind his back, hitting him with the blunt end of her staff and sending him to the ground once again. Kratos shook the dizziness off himself and climbed back up to his feet, only to be greeted by another searing beam of green energy.

"Give it up, mortal." Lachesis stated, keeping her arrogant attitude. "I am merely toying with you for now, but if you persist, only death awaits you."

Kratos didn't even bother dignifying that with an answer and stood up once again, sliding in a fighting stance. With a condescending shake of her head, Lachesis pointed her staff at Kratos once again, ready to fire another beam...

But this time, Kratos was prepared. Just as he began seeing the telltale emerald glow on the woman's staff, Kratos grabbed the Golden Fleece of the Argonauts... and raised it in front of himself just in time for it to intercept the beam from Lachesis' staff and reflect it back at her, hitting her in the chest! With a grunt of both pain and surprise, the supernatural woman staggered backwards, almost dropping her staff as she did... and Kratos took advantage of that moment to dash in and slash at Lachesis with the Blades of Athena. However, Lachesis recovered faster than Kratos had thought and managed to block the hit with her staff, glaring at the Spartan commander with cold rage. The two combatants began pushing towards one another, and for a while, there was a stalemate, which only ended when Kratos, using an old trick, caused Lachesis to lose her balance and stumble forward, after which Kratos was able to slash her in the back with his blades. Annoyed, Lachesis took altitude and fired several beams from her staff, several of them getting close to the mark, but all of them failing to hit... and when she threw her staff, causing it to whirl around like a top and fire a volley of spheres of green energy, Kratos blocked the attack with the Golden Fleece and fired it back at the woman. With a pained grunt, Lachesis dropped down a little, and Kratos jumped up, grabbed her in midair, and thrust his weapon into Lachesis' chest, causing her to grunt again and drop to the ground. She quickly got free and rolled away from her opponent, glaring at him with barely restrained rage as she held her wound with her free hand, causing it to close up almost instantaneously. However, that ephemeral defeat had shaken up Lachesis' confidence, and she was now seething with anger...

"YOU DO NOT DEFY FATE, KRATOS!" she shouted, a far cry from her calm, collected self of a few moments earlier. She hit the ground with her staff, the hooked end glowing sinisterly, and a black miasma began oozing from the place where Lachesis had touched the ground, creeping ominously towards the middle mirror in the room. "For we hold the thread of your life in our very hands!"

"And now... that life is at an end!" a coarse female voice continued when the black miasma touched the mirror, and another of the Sisters of Fate emerged from the reflective surface: a huge crone with a sickly greenish-yellow skin and long white hair, wearing an ornate breastplace, and whose claws were about as long as a grown man's arm, and seemed sharp enough to slice a soldier to pieces in a few moments. The lower half of her body was nothing but black, smoky incorporeality, making her look like some sort of demented caterpillar. Kratos recognized her as well - Atropos, the Sister of Fate who was tasked with cutting the thread of a man's life when his or her time had come. The Ghost of Sparta raised the Blades of Athena, trying to defend himself from the powerful womanlike monster's attack... but Atropos had other ideas. With a screechy laugh, she took flight and immediately dropped down, catching Kratos in her claws and pulling him along with her as well. "We control your destiny, foolish mortal!"

Atropos entered the mirror and dragged Kratos in... and much to the Spartan general's surprise, he was dragged through the surface of the mirror and briefly lost awareness of his surroundings, only to regain it again a second later. What he saw in front of his own eyes left him speechless - he and Atropos were hovering over the Bay of Athens, where an epic fight between two giants was taking place. He immediately recognized the scene - it was him fighting against Ares in their climatic battle for the fate of Athens, about one year ago! At that moment, the two giants had their swords crossed, each trying to overcome the other, and the sword-bridge Kratos had then used to slay Ares was still in place - the battle had obviously just started.

Atropos uncerimoniously dropped Kratos on the bridge, and the ashen-skinned warrior tumbled on its smooth surface for a short distance before standing up, grabbing his wicked blades, while Atropos floated in front of him, still convinced of her superiority. "With but our idle whim, we can end your life, or allow you live!" she explained, letting out a terrible laugh. "Search your memory, Kratos... the sword you are standing on allowed you to win against Ares. Without it, you will be the one who dies this day, not Ares! Hahahahahaaaa!"

The floating monster created a sphere of green energy in her hand and tossed it against the sword-bridge, barely missing Kratos! There was a disquieting noise of something cracking... and a few fissures appeared on the surface of the gigantic sword, which was now threatening to break. For a brief moment, Atropos' face took on a surprised expression... she was probably expecting the blow to instantly shatter the bridge, and was a little annoyed that she had not managed to do so. But she quickly shrugged it off, knowing that at the end, the results would still be the same. "We can change your past, and set your future! THAT IS THE POWER OF THE FATES! HAHAHAHAHAAAA!"

Kratos angrily grit his teeth and lashed out at Atropos with the Blades of Athena, but the Sister of Fate deftly flew under the bridge, just as the giant Kratos and Ares seemed to be locked in a stalemate in the background. Several black holes opened up in the bridge's surface, and several Olympus Sentinels and Demons climbed out of them, their weapons drawn and pointed at Kratos. They charged at him one second later, hoping to overwhelm him with sheer numbers... but they were no match for the might of the former Spartan general, who slashed them apart with his blades, sending their mutilated bodies down in the frothy waters below. However, Kratos suspected that this attack was just a distraction, in order to keep hs busy while Atropos attacked the bridge... and he was proven right when, a few seconds later, the wicked crone came up again, getting close to the bridge and bombarding it with bolts of green energy that began smashing it apart! Knowing that his past self wouldn't have been able to kill Ares without that sword, and that if he had died in the past, he would have perished in the present as well, Kratos produced the Bow of Apollo and began firing at Atropos when she was preoccupied with the bridge and could not dodge her opponent's attacks. More Olympus Sentinels came up from behind him, but he ignored them as much as possible, and only concentrated on Atropos, sending one bolt of energy after the other at her.

"You do not control MY fate, Sisters!" he bellowed angrily. "I will NOT be your puppet any more!" As if to underline his point, Kratos fired another volley of energy arrows into Atropos, striking her in the chest and causing her to stagger in pain and surprise. She flew backwards and dived down once again in order to get a brief reprieve, and Kratos quickly turned to the attacking Olympus Sentinels and charged at them in a whirlwing of blood and steel. The Blades of Athena struck true once again, decimating the attackers... and Kratos quickly pierced a straggler in the chest with his blades, before drawing him close and literally breaking him in half! The monster gurgles obscenely as his two halves fell on the bridge in a shower of gore, then ceased struggling just as Atropos came up again, this time getting at a safe distance from the bridge. She summoned another sphere of energy and tossed it at Kratos, followed by another one... but she had given away her intentions one moment too early, and without the Sentinels and the Demons to distract him, the Ghost of Sparta was able to use the Golden Fleece to intercept the attack and send it right back at Atropos, who growled in pain and anger when she was hit by her own attack.

"Graaaaaaah!" she shrieked madly. "Why? How is it that we cannot control the fate of a mere mortal? We are the Sisters of Fate, and we will not be denied by YOU, Kratos!"

The cronelike Sister of Fate floated up again and sent a volley of bolts against the bridge, hitting it in several parts and weakening it... but still not quite managing to shatter it, and Kratos used the Bow of Apollo once again to shoot Atropos and make her lose altitude. When Atropos dropped down again, she made a great swipe with her claws, hitting Kratos and sending him tumbling on the bridge's surface, but the Spartan warrior quickly rolled with the blow and managed to reduce the damage. He spat out some blood mixed with saliva and quickly stood up again, just as Atropos tried to shatter the bridge with her lightning bolt attack... and in the background, Ares was sucking the Kratos of the past into a dark vortex, in a nightmare dimension where he was going to once again be tormented with his family's death...

In a frantic effort to stop Atropos, Kratos summoned the huge hammer wielded by Alrik the Barbarian King, who he had defeated once again in his journey to the Temple of Fates, and swung it with all of his strength, hitting Atropos in the chest and staggering her! The crone shrieked in pain and fell down on the bridge, where she was struck again by the hammer... and then, Kratos switched to the Blades of Athena and stabbed Atropos in the chest, causing her to actually bleed! Blinding by pain and surprise, Atropos flew up, trying to dislodge the blade that had buried itself in her flesh, but the chain fastening the blade to Kratos' arm held tight, and Kratos let himself be dragged up when Atropos took altitude. In a desperate attempt to shrug off the Spartan warrior, Atropos writhed and turned in midair, but Kratos held tight and managed to get close enough to stab her again with the other blade! Both combatants fell on the bridge, Atropos crushing a few Olympus Demons under her massive body, and Kratos wasted no time in getting up again and stabbing Atropos in the neck! The Sister of Fate in charge of the death of every mortal tried to scream, but all that came out was a choked gasp and a spray of blood... and Kratos jumped up and brought his other blade down on her forehead, skewering it! Atropos convulsed in pain for a few seconds, then finally lay still in a large pool of blood, both her own and Kratos'.

The Spartan took a relieved sigh as he saw that, while damaged, the sword-bridge was still able to function as a weapon. In the background, his past self had just come out of the nightmare dimension Ares had dragged him in, and was kneeling in the water, with Ares pacing around him and getting ready to strike him down. The flame-haired god raised his sword, and was about to skewer the past Kratos with it... when his opponent saw the sword-bridge and shook himself out of his funk, rolling out of Ares' reach and grabbing the hilt of the huge sword! Atropos' body was knocked off the bridge and fell towards the waters below... and just then, incredibly, Atropos woke up and flew away, trying to reach Kratos... but she was forced to stop when she hit an invisible barrier in the sky, and began helplessly beating upon it with her clawed hands...

oooooooooo

As soon as past events had played out the way they were supposed to, Kratos had found himself back at the Throne of Lachesis, staring at the center mirror upon which an helpless Atropos was still trying to reach him, dangerously close to him, and at the same time infinitely far away. Lachesis, the dark-skinned Sister of Fate, was still looming threateningly upon him. She was floating in midair, a couple meters off the ground, and she was still holding her hooked staff, while the wounds Kratos had inflicted upon her earlier on seemed to have completely disappeared. However, this had not quelled her anger in any way. Her expression was unreadable... but she definitely wasn't smiling.

"I grow tired of toying with you, Kratos." she whispered dangerously. Then, she could not hold her anger in any more and pointed her hooked staff at the Ghost of Sparta, wrathfully raising her voice. "This power... THIS POWER WAS NOT MEANT FOR A MORTAL LIKE YOU!"

Kratos' insticts warned him of danger... but Lachesis was too fast for his reflexes to react accordingly, and he failed to get away in time when Lachesis unleashed a bolt of green lightning at him, sending a painful shock through his body. Kratos growled in pain and tried to get away from Lachesis, who tossed him to the ground and send three more bolts at the mirrors in the room. As Kratos shook his head and climbed back to his feet, Atropos emerged from the mirror on his left, her clawed hands holding on to the sides of the reflective surface. Kratos grunted in annoyance, and Atropos chuckled evilly while trying to emerge from the mirror.

"I do not die so easily, Kratos!" she crooned, tossing a green bolt at the Spartan warrior, who quicky rolled out of the way... and was struck by Lachesis, who had taken to the air and dropped down, hitting the ground with her staff glowing in green light! The Spartan was tossed away and slammed upon the wall, then slid down in a daze and acted just in time to avoid being skewered by Lachesis' staff! He grabbed the weapon in his hands and unleashed Poseidon's Rage, sending a powerful electrical shock into Lachesis' body and causing her to scream in agony before tossing her away on the ground. Another bolt of green energy from Atropos forced him to dodge... and a split second later, Kratos slowed down time and dashed towards Atropos before she could slink back in the mirror. He slashed at Atropos several times, forcing her to retreat... and as the mirror became cracked, he brought out his war hammer again and slammed it on the reflecting surface, shattering it!

Lachesis stood again and fired several energy balls at Kratos, hitting him once but failing to drop him. She attacked again, and fired a few more shots, which Kratos parried with the Golden Fleece and sent back at her... then flew up and shot a lighting bolt at the ground, charging it with destructive energy! Just in time, Kratos threw one of the Blades of Athena at an arc in the upper part of the Throne, then drew himself up as the ground crackled with energy... then launched himself at Lachesis and struck true, bringing her to the ground just as the effect of the lightning bolt ceased. Atropos emerged from the right mirror and fired again... but Kratos reflected the shot back at her with the Golden Fleece and slowed time down once again, repeating the process he had used to shatter the opposite mirror. With a frustrated growl, Atropos was forced back into the mirror before Kratos shattered it, leaving just one mirror intact. Getting more and more desperate, Lachesis flew in front of the remaining mirror and slammed her staff on the ground, creating several columns of green energy which she then sent towards Kratos at high speeds! The Ghost of Sparta swifty managed to dodge the attack by slipping between the columns of energy, and dashed in to attack Lachesis hand-to-hand. In a desperate attempt to stop the Spartan general, the woman twirled her staff and tried to swat Kratos aside, only to find all of her attacks blocked by the Blades of Athena.

"How? How are you keeping up with me, Kratos? How can I not decide your fate?" she exclaimed, putting more and more power in each of her attacks. Using all of the skills he had accumlated in years upon years of bloody battles, Kratos kept a close eye on both ends of the staff, alternating between avoiding the pointy end and blocking the blunt one, and taking advantage of whatever few openings Lachesis gave him in order to score a few hits. It was a truly impressive sight, with both combatants never giving nor accepting quarter, but it was plain clear that one of them was going to drop his or her guard soon, and then would have been the time to end the battle once and for all...

Finally, Kratos caught an opening in Lachesis' relentless assault. He threw one of his blades at her, and the Sister of Fate managed to dodge by simply moving sideways... but Kratos was not aiming at her body, as she discovered much to her chagrin when the chain fastening the blade to Kratos' arm wrapped itself around her staff, trapping it in a vicelike grip. Kratos began pulling inward, and manages to wrest the staff away from Lachesis, who stumbled forward awkwardly and allowed Kratos to stab her in the side with the staff's sharp end. The woman howled in pain as Kratos pushed the hook deeper into her flesh, then lifted the staff and threw it away along with its owner. As Lachesis tried to dislodge her own weapon from her body, Kratos got ready to launch a final attack against her... but a cold clawed hand emerged from the mirror right behind him and dragged his backwards, holding him in place as Atropos emerged once again from the reflective surface. The Spartan warlord struggled and tried to get free from the deadly grab... but this cost him some time, and Lachesis had all the time she needed to recover, extract her weapon from her own body and fly towards Kratos!

"Hahahahahaaaa! Strike him down now, sister!" Atropos laughed. With a vengeful scream, Lachesis raised her staff and got ready to skewer Kratos on its pointed end. But the Spartan champion refused to let them win, and managed to wrest his right arm free and launch one of the Blades of Athena towards an handhold on the walls of the Throne. Then, he pulled himself upwards with all of his strength, breaking out of Atropos' hold and lifting himself towards the ceiling. Atropos was left to grasp at thin air, but did not have the time to be surprised before her sister's weapon struck her in the forehead, piercing through her skull and coming out on the other side in a shower of blood!

"Sister!" Lachesis screamed in shock. Kratos vaulted around the hold he had gotten and swept down upon Lachesis, kicking both her and the dying Atropos into the mirror... then, before Lachesis could recover, he stabbed her in the chest with the Blades of Athena, and finally slashed her in the head, throwing her through the mirror. Lachesis could do nothing but scream in pain and impotent rage as she and her sister were absorbed by the mirror, and began beating mercilessly on the surface of the mirror in a desperate attempt to get free... just before her face froze in horror at the sight of Kratos summoning his war hammer once again and rearing it backwards.

"No... no... don't do this!" Lachesis pleaded.

Kratos paid her no heed and slammed the hammer on the final mirror with all of his might! With a chilling sound, the glass shattered, as Lachesis and Atropos let out a final, silent scream and were destroyed. All that was left of the two Sisters of Fate was a bunch of glass shard scattered on the floor... and a new corridor appeared behind the broken mirror, allowing Kratos to access the innermost part of the temple.

Keeping a fierce frown on his face, Kratos nodded and walked into the new passage that had just been revealed. The final Sisters of Fate, Clotho, was getting closer... and with her, his greatest chance to free himself of all his nightmares!

oooooooooo

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	3. Clotho's Threads

**God of War's Inferno**

**oooooooooo**

**Chapter 3 - Clotho's Threads**

The innermost sanctum of the Temple of the Fates was definitely one of the eeriest, most lonely places Kratos had ever seen in his long and successful carreer as a commander of the Spartan army. Strange, otherworldly whispers were heard in the dark, hollow corridors, and a strange smell of stale air permeated the environment. It was as if, even after Lachesis and Atropos had been destroyed, their sinister influence could still be felt within the temple... and the deeper Kratos went inside, the stronger that feeling of doom was felt. However, the cursed warrior was not about to let an annoying sensation get in the way, and he kept pushing forward, knowing that the Throne of Clotho was now close at hand. The walls were beginning to be crisscrossed with fine white threads, which Kratos knew to be a telltale sign of the fact that the Sister of Fate that weaved the thread of life. This gave him an extra incentive to push forward, and soon after, the ashen-skinned warrior found himself in a short, darkened corridor, which ended in what looked like a large glass door opening on a frightening vista of the Throne of Clotho.

Kratos glared at the massive form that was shuddering in the distance, only a transparent door and a huge distance separating him from it. It was a truly unwholesome sight - Clotho, the final Sister of Fate, looked like some sort of unholy cross between a gargantuan maggot and a wretched crone, with a pulsating, grossly obese wormlike body cascading with rolls upon rolls of fat, and covered in a filthy, mottled grayish-green hide erupting with revolting growths and tumors. Spindly arms with far too many joints, along with female breasts, jutted out of random places in the abomination's body, which was crowned with the head of a wretched old woman with flowing white hair cascading at the sides, swollen purple lips and yellow teeth. A pair of beady eyes were set in the creature's face, glared hatefully at Kratos as several appendages on the thing's body continuously shot out strings of white silk, enveloping the whole lair into a coccoon of sticky threads, like those of an immense web.

Kratos walked up to the glass, sustaining Clotho's glare... and the awful thing sneered at him, pointing one of her many arms at him and condemning his actions in a low, gravelly voice.

"_It is through my threads that all life exists._" she hissed. "_You must not interfere with fate, Kratos. You will destroy... everything!_"

"Your sisters are dead, Clotho." the Spartan warlord exclaimed coldly,his hands already grabbing at the Blades of Athena. "And you shall join them shortly."

The hideous crone let out a sneer, unimpressed with Kratos' boast. "_My sisters were fools. They wasted precious time toying with you, rather than doing their duty of protecting the power of fate from arrogant, self-important mortals like you._" Clotho exclaimed. "_But you shall not be so fortunate with me. I will crush your pathetic attempt to avert your fate, and an eternity of torment in the depths of Tartarus shall be your reward for your insane bid._"

"This is what we shall soon see." Kratos cut to the chase, before ramming his shoulder into the glass and shattering it with a loud noise, sending pieces of glass and iron into the large room. He leapt down and landed on his feet at the foot of what looked like a gigantic structure that held Clotho's massive body upright, surrounded with weblike threads that seemed to stretch off into infinity, and several elevators and mechanical contraptions were scattered here and there on the iron surface, which was probably how Clotho's servants attended to her every need. In fact, Kratos managed to see that the eldest of the Sisters of Fate had already gathered a rather large number of monsters at the foot of her "tower", all of them armed and ready to face the Spartan warrior who had already slain their two other mistresses. There were several undead Olympus Sentinels and Olympus Demons, a few flail-wielding Minotaurs, a whole flock of shrieking Harpies and even two Cyclopses, all of them weilding their weapons menacingly as they formed a wall in front of Kratos.

With a contemptuous grunt, Kratos unsheathed the Blades of Athena once again, and got ready to fight his way through the horde just as the first Olympus Sentinels began charging at him. The Spartan warrior began hacking through his opponents in earnest, easily slicing off limbs and heads from the foul undead creatures, but soon enough, even the other monsters began converging on Kratos' position, in an attempt to overwhelm him with sheer numbers. The Ghost of Sparta managed to roll out of the way before an Olympus Demon could grab him with its foul hands, and after concentrating for a moment, he rammed the ground with his fist, sending out a wave of rocks all around himself and causing several explosions that shook the earth around him. The Atlas Quake magic smashed several monsters apart, and the debris flying around forced the closest Minotaurs and the two Cyclops into a quick retreat... but as the surviving Olympus Sentinels and Harpies tried to retreat and regroup, one of the Minotaurs bellowed, lowered its head and charged towards Kratos head-on, bringing its razor-sharp horns into play! With quick thinking, the Spartan warrior launched his chained blades towards a protruding part of the iron tower and lifted himself up and above the charging minotaur, then he quickly let go and dropped on the Minotaur's back, forcing the bull-headed monster down. It roared and thrashed in an attempt to get free, and the other monsters hesitated, probably wondering what Kratos was about to do... which gave the Spartan ample time to act. He punched the Minotaur he was riding in the face and caused it to sway dangerously... then, he grabbed one of the animalistic monster's horn and began pulling inwards with all of his might. There was a loud snap as something gave, and the Minotaur bellowed in agony when Kratos broke its horn clean off its head, before attempting to grab the Spartan warrior and shake him off. With a warlike roar, Kratos raised the broken horm above his head and brought it down, stabbing right through the Minotaur's skull! The monster roared again and collapsed to the ground, where it gave a last thrashing before laying still... then, Kratos turned to the bewildered survivors or the group of monsters and tosssed the broken horn at them, managing to hit one of the two Cyclopses in the eye! The dim-witted giant roared in pain and stumbled backwards, desperately trying to dislodge the horn from its eye... and Kratos took advantage of that split second to dash in. He blocked a Minotaur's axe with the Blades of Athena and dodged the other Cyclops' cudgel before unleashing Cronos' Rage upon the group of monsters. A sphere-shaped blast of blue electricity burst from Kratos' body and quickly engulfed the closest Minotaur, who roared in pain as the energy coursed through its massive body... then, Kratos dashed towards the other Cyclops and used Cronos' Rage again, electrocuting the one-eyed giant. Another Minotaur tried to blindside Kratos with its axe, and the sharp blade grazed the ashen-skinned warrior's shoulder, drawing a line of blood which added itself to the red tattoos crisscrossing the cursed warrior's body... but it was just a temporary advantage before Kratos lashed out with the Blades of athena, separating the Minotaur's head from its body. Taking advantage of the fact that Cronos' Rage was still active, Kratos roared defiantly once again and leapt towards the first Cyclops, who had just then managed to free itself from the horn which had stabbed its eye. Weeping blood, the giant flailed around with its cudgel in a blind rage, but Kratos managed to jump over its weapon at the right moment, and began spinning around and extending the Blades of Athena outwards, slicing through the Cyclops' leathery flesh. It roared again and staggered backwards, bleeding rivers, before finally collapsing and expiring. Then, as the second Cyclops began advancing once again towards him, Kratos slipped under its cudgel and dodged a Minotaur's axe, then punched the Cyclops in its overlarge belly, causing it to double over in pain and almost drop its crude weapon. Kratos quickly slipped between the Cyclops' legs and stabbed it in the side, then began climbing up its back using the Blades of Athena. The giant roared in rage and pain and tried to grab Kratos, but the cursed warrior managed to reach the monster's head and stabbed it close to the neck, in a non-lethal area that could still inflict a lot of pain to the hideous brute.

The Cyclops roared again and swung its cudgel-holding arm in an uncontrollable spasm, hitting an approaching Minotaur and sending it flying into a nearby pit, where it disappeared with a bloodcurling howl. Then, Kratos struck again, and the Cyclops brought its arm up and then dropped it down, squashing the last remaining Minotaur on the floor! Having squeezed all the usefulness he could out of the Cyclops, Kratos climbed up the giant's head and stabbed its single eye with one of his blades, gouging out its eye! The Cyclops roared in again, blood gushing out of its single eye socket, and Kratos managed to jump down and land on solid ground before the giant collapsed with a loud crash. With that out of the way, Kratos nodded to himself and walked among the corpses of his slain opponents, approaching a ramp that seemed to be climbing around the tower, sneaking around Clotho's repulsive body. From where he was, the Spartan could see several of the last Sister of Fate's arms and breasts twitching in what could either be seen as nervousness or anticipation. It wasn't clear whether the monster was eager to squeeze the life out of Kratos, or if instead she knew she was in danger and was trying to calm down...

"So... the thread of my own life is here somewhere." Kratos said to himself, as Clotho's many limbs began moving several contraptions and activating several ominous-looking traps that surrounded the iron ramps. A series of razor-sharp curved blades, hanging on swinging ropes, dropped down and threatened to impale Kratos, and the Spartan only managed to dodge by throwing himself out of the way at the last second. He grabbed his blades once again, and glared upwards at the mountain of flesh and skin that composed Clotho's body, grimly determined to get to the top and obtain the thread of his life. This monster was the last thing standing between himself and his ultimate goal... and he was not going to give up just now! Two of the sisters of Fate had fallen... and the final one was going to follow soon!

"_To pass through the mirrors... you are meddling with something no mortal should even be allowed to get close to!_" Clotho crooned, extending one of her spindly, multi-jointed arms to swat Kratos away. A powerful swing smacked Kratos in the back, and the mighty warrior grunted in pain and stumbled forward before countering with a mighty slash that forced the aberration to retreat the offending limb. Taking advantage of a few moments of respite, Kratos reached a lever in front of himself and pulled it, before hanging to the corridor's ceiling and climbing his way to the other side. Another arm shot up all of a sudden from Clotho's body and grabbed Kratos, trying to pull him down, but the cursed warrior detached from the ceiling and let himself be dragged down, only to stab Clotho's wrist with the Blades of Athena, and causing the limb to fall limply on the floor. With quick movements, Kratos reached for another lever in front of himself and pulled it, revealing an alcove slightly above him, and a rope that dangled from the upper part of the tower. That was his way to climb higher...

"I care not for your inane warnings!" Kratos shouted after Clotho. "I will get what I came here for... and you will not stop me!"

"_Then suffer for your arrogance, pathetic fool!_" the monstrous crone hissed, her arm quickly springing back to life and battering Kratos with a powerful backhanded strike which sent the Ghost of Sparta flying. Kratos quickly stood up again, spitting some blood, and quickly spread the Wings of Icarus to jump up and cling to the ceiling once again with the Blades of Athena. Avoiding Clotho's flailing arm, he reached the alcove and grabbed the rope, before climbing up to the next floor... where he barely avoided getting smacked around by another of Clotho's many arms! "_The threads of life are something that should never be allowed to fall in mortal hands!_"

The spindly limb shot out once again, its unclean claws raking Kratos across his muscular chest, and the cursed warrior grunted in pain as the blow drew some blood. He slashed back with the Blades of Athena, numbing the arm for a while, and looked up at the sinister-looking contraptions hanging from the ceiling, seeing that there were a few spikes among them... and quickly used the Blades to cling to the ceiling and slash at the closest iron spike, which fell and impaled Clotho's hand to the floor. The Sister of Fate roared in pain as she tried to dislodge the iron spike from her hand, without much success, and Kratos quickly went around the limb in order to look for a way up, while still taking care to avoid any other limb that might unexpectedly have come out of Clotho's bulbous body... and he managed to see a small platform, hanging high above him, that seemed to be able to allow him to reach the upper floors, where he would finally come face to face with Clotho herself. But there were still a couple arms in the way, and he had to devise a way to get rid of those, if he wanted to have a prayer...

The enraged Sister of Fate, for her part, was not about to be made a fool of so easily and tried to grab and squeeze Kratos in her clawed hands, forcing the mighty warrior into a dazzling zigzag in order to avoid the deadly grasp... but a split second later, another arm came out and tried to grab Kratos while he was busy fending off the attacks from the first two limbs. There was no time to dodge, and no way to fend off the third arm...

But Clotho had not predicted one thing - with a single thought and a split second of concentration, Kratos slowed time down to a crawl, and the environment - at least, in his point of view - was shrouded in a green mist. Using the Amules of the Fates, Kratos had sped himself up to the point were everything else seemed to be frozen in time. Before the effects of the amulet wore out, Kratos positioned himself out of reach for Clotho's arms and took a look around, seeing another lever close to him, and a sliding panel on the floor in its proximities. He then dismissed the effect of the amulet, and rolled towards the lever, before grabbing it and pulling it down with all of his strength. As he expected, the panel slid backwards, revealing a small depression in the floor, which was large enough to fit Clotho's hand in it.

With a nod, Kratos raised his blades just as Clotho's arm shot towards him. With a powerful blow, the Sister of Fate staggered Kratos and tried to grab him, but the Ghost of Sparta quickly recovered and slashed at the flailing limb, numbing it. Then, he grabbed Clotho's arm and tossed it in the small opening that was left in the floor, before pulling the lever back in place... and trapping the limb in the sliding panel! Clotho roared in pain once again and tried to reach for Kratos, but the ashen-skinned warrior was already out of reach. The enraged Sister of Fate moved another arm, and tried to trip Kratos as he ran towards it, but Kratos managed to jump over it and used the Wings of Icarus to get away from it. Then, as Clotho retracted her limb in order to attack again, Kratos roared in defiance and leapt upon the monster's arm, executing a powerful swipe with both his blades, drawing blood! Clotho screamed again, and Kratos slashed once more, this time hacking off the repulsive limb, which twitched for several seconds even after having been separated from the main body, squirting disgusting blood all over the place! Clotho's chilling scream reverberated through the eerie, web-covered shrine, and Kratos quickly grabbed the closest chain he could fnd and climbed his way up to the yop of the tower, only to be greeted with the hideous visage of Clotho glaring hatefully at him, her main arms angrily tearing at the threads around her. The top of the iron tower was a large, perfectly smooth platform surrounded with hanging chains and more strange apparatuses. The Sister of Fate's obscene, overlarge body was placed in the large hole in the center of the platform, inside an alcove dug in the stone, and her face was contorted in pain and rage.

"_You! YOU!_" she roared, almost frenzied with her desire to grab Kratos and tear him apart as he jumped off the improvised rope and landed upon the platform, Blades of Athena drawn and ready to fight. "_You will never manage to change your fate, Kratos! I do not understand how is it that my sisters could not decide your fate, but it matters not, at this point! I will destroy you here and now!_"

With that, Clotho raised a massive arm and tried to smash Kratos to the ground with it, and only the Spartan general's reflexes, honed by days upon days of constant fighting, allowed him to roll out of the way in time. Before Clotho could try again, Kratos launched Cronos' Rage once again, shooting a cracking sphere of blue energy at the monster and stunning her for a short time. Clotho roared again and tried to hit Kratos with her other arm, only for Kratos to use the Blades of Athena to intercept the blow and draw a deep gash in Clotho's arm, spewing red blood all over himself. Clotho retracted her arm, and Kratos produced the Bow of Typhoon and shoot a volley of arrows at the limb, causing further pain to the monstrous crone. However, the other arm had regain sensitivity, and Clotho, acting with incredible quickness, swept down and grabbed Kratos, before squeezing with all of her might! Kratos grunted in sudden surprise and pain, and tried to force the fingers open, struggling against the monster's incredible strength.

"_It ends here, Kratos!_" Clotho screeched. "_I will make you into a blood stain on the floor!_"

Kratos growled again as Clotho squeezed further, threating to bust his ribs, and grabbed the wiry fingers that were trying to crush him. With a huge effort, the mighty Spartan warrior managed to pull one of the fingers away from the others and twisted it until a sickening crack signalled that the finger bone had broken! Clotho immediately screamed in pain and was forced to let go of the Spartan, who landed safely upon the platform and reached for yet another lever on the platform's edge. He pulled the lever, and with a screeching sound of metal scraping upon metal, a large chain was pulled upwards, dragging a large scythelike blade with it as it aligned itself with Clotho's hideous face. As Clotho struggled to regain her bearings, Kratos reached the huge blade and began pushing it backwards in order for it to gain momentum and pierce Clotho's head, then let it go one moment later, only for Clotho to grab it just in time and throw it back. Kratos launched his chainblades at the larger blade and tried to swing it again, but once again Clotho proved to be a canny opponent. Letting out an horrible gurgling sound, the hideous Sister of Fate grabbed the bladed pendulum with one of her arms, and used the other to try and hit Kratos!

"_NEVER!_" she exclaimed, with Kratos jumping away just in time to avoid being squashed by the creature's massive fist. He quickly jumped on the iron beam above the platform and pulled the swinging pendulum back, before launching himself at Clotho once again.

The Sister of Fate roared again, and grabbed the blade in its hands just in time, when it was only one meter away from its face... but Kratos seemed to have expected that, as he quickly jumped off the blade and landed on Clotho's shoulder, stabbing one of the Blades of Athena in her leathery flesh. Then, before Clotho cold stop him, Kratos jumped up and landed on the thing's head, then launched the Blades of Athena towards the pendulum blade and began pulling inwards in an attempt to wrest the improvised weapon out of Clotho's grasp. Clotho's eyes widened in horror as she realized that the blade was getting closer, and she struggles to keep it away from her face, starting a tug-of-war between herself and Kratos. The two combatants' groans mingled as each one of them attempted to pull the pendulum, either away from her of towards himself.

The struggle continued for several tense seconds, neither of the two budging an inch... until finally Kratos gave one last tug, and Clotho lost her grip upon the pendulum! In a single moment, Kratos pulled the blade and drove it right through Clotho's head, almost splitting it in two with a sickening sound of torn flesh and shattered bone!

Torrents of blood immediately sprayed out of Clotho's ruined skull, bathing Kratos in a shower of warm, sticky, disgusting gore as the Sister of Fate thrashed madly in her death throes, her distorted arms flailing wildly at thin air as if this could save her somehow. Finally, after a few seconds, Clotho slumped lifelessly to the floor, her fingers twitching for a brief while before they froze in death.

Clotho, the last of the Sisters of Fate, was dead.

Kratos slid off the fallen monster's body, near which an enormous pool of blood was widening, and breathed in and out a few times, then resheathed the Blades of Athena. He was not feeling pride for his victory - as far as he was concerned, Clotho was nothing but a stepping stone in his way to getting to the thread of his life... and finally free himself from the nightmares plaguing him! As he breathed in, he heard Gaea's voice once again, speaking directly to his mind.

"_Well done, Kratos. The Sisters of Fate are dead... now, nobody can control destiny any more._" the Titan spoke. "_Now, by finding the thread of your own life, you will be able to use it to return to the moment where Zeus betrayed you, and you'll be able to get your revenge._"

"You are telling me things I already know, Gaea." Kratos grunted. "Just tell me where I can find that thread. How will I be able to recognize it?"

"_Just follow the passage behind Clotho's body._" Gaea intructed him. The Spartan looked in that direction and saw that in fact there was a small passage, even though it was mostly hidden by Clotho's massive corpse. "_Follow that, and activate the mechanism._"

Kratos wasted no time and did as he was told, running into the corridor and towards a dead end, finally reaching a lever placed on the floor, next to the wall. He grabbed the lever and pulled it... and the floor quickly slid up, taking Kratos to what appeared to be the entrance to an underground pool of water that went deeper into the Sister of Fate's inner sanctum. Kratos entered the water and began following it until he got to another part of the sanctum... right behind Clotho's corpse. The sheer bulk of the last Sister of Fate was preventing him from seeing it when he was facing her... but now that he had reached that place, he saw that it looked like some strange balcony with a massive mirror placed on the wall, whose glass seemed to be perpetually clouded.

"_The power of the Fates resides within these mirrors, Kratos._" Gaea explained. "_Use the lever on yor right, and you will be able to find your thread and manipulate the mirrors so that you may get back to the moment where Zeus betrayed you._"

Looking to his right, Kratos managed to see a lever on the edge of the "terrace", and after he pulled it, several gigantic looms were raised from the edge of the platform he had just fought Clotho on. Kratos ran back down, crossing the water and using the makeshift elevator to get back to the platform. Then, he began looking through all the looms in order to find the one belonging to him. His instinct telling him that was the right choice, he began pulling the silken thread at the center of the platform, and at the same time, several images began flashing on the massive mirror behind Clotho's still-warm corpse. He managed to see the Kraken he had fought against along with the Last Spartan... then, his battles against Perseus and Theseus... his escape from the Underworld... and finally, the moment right after he had brought down the Colossus of Rhodes, when Zeus had driven the Blade of Olympus right through him!

"_That's what you were looking for, Kratos!_" Gaea exclaimed almost gleefully. "_If you can get in there, you can change the outcome of that battle!_"

The Ghost of Sparta glared angrily at the image of himself being stabbed by Zeus and remaining defiant until the end... and his natural instinct would have been to leap upon the mirror, cross over to the other side, and make Zeus pay for that he had done.

And yet... Kratos hesitated for once. There were other considerations tempering his lust for revenge. Maybe there was not even need to get his revenge upon Zeus... maybe there was another possibility, one that had only crossed his mind when he had almost killed the last remaining Spartan by accident. He felt it had been foolish of him not to think about that, but now... now he knew this was his greatest, and possibly last, chance to rid himself of all the horrible memories.

Kratos began working the loom further, and the image of himself being impaled by Zeus vanished, only to be substituted with more painfl images. His brother Deimos' death at the hands of Thanatos. His mother Callisto turning into a monster, and him being forced to mercy kill her. His battle against Ares, twelve years earlier... then all the labors he had done for the Gods, in a desperate attempt at finding relief after his hideous crime...

"_What?_" Gaea exclaimed in surprise. "_What are you doing, Kratos? These events in your life have nothing to do with your revenge on Zeus! Return to the end of your battle in Rhodes!_"

Kratos was deaf to her orders, and spun the threads some more... until he finally saw a burning city, whose temple was being surrounded by scores of armed soldiers.

That was it! That was the image that had hauned him for so long, that was the nightmare he had been waking up from for no less than twenty-two years now. And this... this was his last chance to make things right! In a burst of determination, he let the thread go and quickly ran back to the corridor he had come from, hoping to reach the mirror before the images vanished! An enraged Gaea continued speaking to him, desperately trying to get him to spin the thread again and get back to the more recent events at Rhodes.

"_Kratos, you fool! What do you think you are doing?_" the Titan exclaimed, her plans hitting a snag all of a sudden. "_You are supposed to get back to the moment where Zeus betrayed you! Obey me!_"

"I have done what I came here for!" Kratos answered back, as he ascended to the mirrors once again, using the elevator, then swimming through the water and getting back on the terrace where the huge mirror had been placed. "I wanted to change my past and get rid of the memories... and this is my chance to do so! Do not interfere!"

"_KRATOS!_" Gaea fired back. "_You dare disobey me? My companions and I were the ones who gave you another chance to live after you escaped from the Underworld! We were the ones who gave you your new powers! You owe us a great debt!_"

"I owe you nothing." the Spartan answered brutally, stopping for just a moment before stepping through the mirror and ignoring Gaea's enraged ranting. A feeling of falling through a cold void overtook him as everything became a blur of light and darkness, and the sight of the burning village began getting progressively more real, along with the heat of the fires and the awful smell of burning wood and flesh...

And yet, these sensations were those of a newfound hope for Kratos, as he continued dauntlessly towards the flames rising high in the air...

"_Lysandra. Calliope. I'm coming. And this time, nothing will keep me from saving you!_"

**oooooooooo**

In another place...

In another time...

Something is stirring...

Buried in the eternal ice, cursing its own impotence and its imprisonment, it finally felt that its chance had come.

It was not really sure how... but it mattered not, at that moment.

It smiled devilishly, its claws gripping the eternal ice as it began rising from the abyss.

"FINALLY... FINALLY A SOUL TAINTED ENOUGH HAS COME TO ME IN A MOST UNEXPECTED WAY... THIS WILL BE INTERESTING... KRATOS, GHOST OF SPARTA, YOUR SINS WILL BECOME THE CORNERSTONE FOR MY RETURN TO HEAVEN!"

**oooooooooo**

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	4. Back In Time

**God of War's Inferno**

**oooooooooo**

**Chapter 4 - Back In Time**

The feeling Kratos felt as he came out of the gate he had stepped out of was unlike anything he had felt before. It felt like his skin was scorching, yet his insides felt chilly and unnaturally cold. The contrast with the burning hot air that hit his face almost immediately after he had made the jump did not help Kratos feel any more comfortable with the whole business, and of course the onslaught of confusing, incomprehensible images that had assaulted his mind during the travel through time had left him dazed and stunned. The Spartan warrio had once again found himself assaulted by images drawn from all his memories, as otherworldly voices boomed inside of his mind and feverish colors danced all around him in a mad caleidoscope. It was truly something incredible and unsettling at the same... and the few minutes - at least, this is what it seemed to him now - Kratos had spent travelling through the flux of time had given him a bizzarre, alien feeling of deja vu, and at the same time, of something that had changed. He wasn't sure how to actually put it in words, only that it was unlike anything he had ever experienced. And it wasn't like he had a shortage of experiences in his life...

But soon after, as the deafening noises and the unearthly colors of the time travel had died down, Kratos managed to focus on the terrifying spectacle that lay in front of his eyes. He was standing on a scorched, battle-scarred hill right out of a small village, under a darkened sky that cast dark shadows over the land, smoke rising from the burning buildings and the ever-familiar sounds of battle and pillage filling the air. The clash of weapon on weapon was not so prevalent, which obviously meant that the village's faint resistance had already been broken... and in its place, the screams of the dying and the sound of crackling fire and falling buildings resonated all around, as the Spartan army completed its conquest.

Kratos had no doubt - this was the place! This was where he had committed the act that would have ruined his life and left him prey to nightmares and madness for the rest of his life... his wife Lysandra and his daughter Calliope were there somewhere, in the temple dedicated to Athena. For some incredible joke of fate, they were where they weren't supposed to be... and soon they would feel victim to Ares' treachery and Kratos' own blind thirst for blood...

No!

Not if Kratos, the Kratos of here and now, had something to say, and do, about it!

The Ghost of Sparta grit his teeth and began racing through the burning village, desperately racing against the clock in a last ditch attempt to stop himself from committing the fatal mistake. Flames licked at his pale skin and debris crumpled around him as the Spartan warrior rushed to the half-destroyed temple of Athena, right in the mainsquare of the village. The place was surrounded in flames and dark smoke, and the street were covered in the bodies of the slain defenders, but Kratos had no interest in any of that. His wife and his daughter were there, and he had to save them before it was too late!

The ashen-skinned warrior was soon confronted by two of the last remaining defenders of the doomed village, who pointed their spears at him, knowing that their hometown was lost, but willing to go down fighting if need be. At the sight of the helmeted figures clad in bronze armor, Kratos sneered and grabbed the Blades of Athena, secretly admiring their courage but still unwilling to give mercy to anyone in order to save the people he cared about the most.

"Get out of my way!" he bellowed, slashing at the two warriors and knocking them aside, their broken weapons clattering to the ground as he ran through. He didn't even bother to stop and finish them off, as he got closer and closer to the Temple of Athena, finally racing up the stairs and reaching the entrance! He could faintly make out two feminine voices amidst the chaos and the roaring fire... and he knew that his wife and daughter were close by, as well as his past self! Without even stopping to think, Kratos ran through the entrance, just in time to see another, younger-looking Kratos approaching the two women, who were half-hidden by the smoke and seemed to be desperately trying to make it through. A pair of wicked-looking blades were in his hands, and he was edging towards Lysandra and Calliope with clear murderous intent, not recognizing them in his addled state of mind...

"_Father... please..._" Calliope's voice pleaded, giving the Spartan warrior one more incentive to get there in time! As the past Kratos raised his blades to inflict a fatal blow, the Ghost of Sparta roaared in anger and desperation and dove at his past self, tackling him with all of his strength! He grabbed the past Kratos by the waist and brought him down, slamming him upon the floor and causing his Blades of Chaos to fly out of his hands as the two began wrestling each other to the ground. Caught off guard, the Kratos of the past tried to struggle his way out of his future counterpart's grip, but the latter grabbed his opponent in a vicelike grip and began constricting him, cutting off his air supply.

"_What...? What is going on here?_" Kratos heard his wife Lysandra's voice over the deafening rumble, while he pinned his crazed younger self to the ground, and a strange feeling, like an electric shock coursing through his body, began running through him, making him feel like he and his opponent were gradually merging into one. He grit his teeth as the feeling became more and more painful, and through bloodshot eyes, he was able to see his opponent's body become blurred and turn into a strange mist that flowed into his own body through the skin... or was it the other way round? The pain soon increased so much, making him feel like his body was on fire, that he really couldn't tell which was which...

"_Daddy?_" Calliope asked. Kratos managed to hear her even through the agony he was going through, and grit his teeth in an attempt to endure. Willing himself to remain conscious, the Spartan warrior pushed his downed opponent towards the pavement and held him there, as the pain got worse and worse, to the point of being blinding. In Kratos' point of view, everything was dissolving into a white light...

The agony continued unabated for what felt like hours, but were actually mere seconds... and once the noise and pain died down, Kratos took a deep breath and grabbed his head with one hand to stop the dizziness. His senses clearing within a few seconds, he blinked and tried to focus on his surroundings, a dull vibrating sound still echoing in his ears as he tried to do so. He could feel the cold marble stone of the temple's floor on the palms of his hands, and he could still feel the awful smell of burning wood and flesh permeating every corner of the shrine... and above all, he could feel that he wasn't the same anymore. Something had happened to him as he was fighting his past self... and there was no trace of his past self, the one who had just tried to kill Lysandra and Calliope. It was as if he had never existed in the first place, not even a trace of blood or ash marring the point where he had disappeared...

Hold on a second. Lysandra... Calliope... what about them? Were they safe?

"Kratos?" he managed to hear a strong female voice calling out to him, which he immediately recognized as Lysandra's voice. An undescribable feeling washed over the ashen-skinned warrior... a feeling of joy and relief, so overwhelming that Kratos felt almost confused at first. He hadn't even suspected he was still capable of feeling joy... and yet, here it was! His wife was there... she was talking to him... she was safe! And Calliope... was Calliope with her? Was she saved as well? Kratos turned around, almost afraid to discover that this was all just a very cruel dream, and that he would soon be back at the Temple of the Fates...

The smoke receded a little, and Kratos managed to see the two female figures, one tall and athletic, and one lithe and delicate, walking towards him... and as his sight completely returned, he could see them right there, right in front of his eyes! Lysandra and Calliope, both of them frightened and confused, were looking at him as if they hoped that their husband and father respectively could clear their doubts and explain what was happening...

Kratos felt like something was about to burst out of his chest for joy. He had actually done it... Lysandra and Calliope were there, and they were alive! He had actually done it... he had saved them! He wanted to jump up, throw his arms up in the air, and let out the most almighty scream of victory his lungs could muster... but he quickly reminded himself that they were still in danger, as long as they remained in that burning temple. The battle was still raging outside, even though only a few desperate stragglers resisted still... and there was no guarantee that Ares wouldn't have tried to pull off one of his dirty tricks still!

"Lysandra! Calliope! What... what is the meaning of this? Why are you here? You weren't supposed to be here!" Kratos asked. "I thought you were still in Sparta... so how did you end up here?"

"We don't know the reason exactly..." Lysandra answered, holding Calliope tight. The girl was staring at her father with a mixture of fear and hope, and the Ghost of Sparta was having a lot of trouble curbing his first instinct to just go to his daughter and hug her for all he was worth. How long was it since he had hugged her, again? Kratos was almost afraid to count the years... "While you were away on this campaign, we received a sign... we were told that it was a sign from Athena, who wanted us to be present here now... but now, I'm beginning to think there was some mistake."

"Yeah. Some mistake indeed." Kratos breathed out. It wasn't inconceivable that it was Ares who sent that sign to Lysandra and Calliope, so that they could be there to get killed by... well, his past self when he had become too blinded by rage to think clearly. But he quickly put that thought aside and focused on the here and now, in order to make sure they both would get out of this alive. "Lysandra, Calliope, listen to me! This place is not safe, you are at risk every moment you stay! Get to the hills right outside of the eastern gates and wait for me there. I'll reach you shortly, I promise."

"What do you have to do here, Daddy?" Calliope asked fearfully. "This place is dangerous for you as well."

"Worry not, my child, for I am not going to die here." the Spartan warlord answered. "There are a few things I need to straighten out... and I need to do them now or never!"

"Your word is your honor, Spartan." Lysandra stated, before guiding Calliope towards one of the exits, before the fires and the suffocating smoke could get too much to handle. "Come, Calliope... Daddy knows what he's doing. We need to get out of here, or we'll only be in his way."

"Daddy... you will be okay, won't you?" Calliope asked her father, who only nodded once and escorted them out of the burning temple and out in the chaotic streets, helping them make their way through the destruction. Faster than he expected, Kratos and his family reached the crumbling walls of the doomed small town, and the two women began running away from the burning wreckage of the village, leaving Kratos standing there to watch over them until they got to relative safety. Lysandra ad Calliope turned around one last time to spare Kratos one least, meaningful glance, and the cursed warrior nodded at them before they continued running away. However, they both couldn't help but notice a strange particular - Kratos' skin, which had been the usual color until he had taken a step into Athena's temple, was now white with ashes, making him look like some kind of otherworldly spirit, and the red tattoos that now were visible on his ashen body looking like bloody ribbons, now more than ever...

oooooooooo

The Spartan soldiers were still rampaging through the village, pillaging all they wanted, putting men and women to the sword, and taking all the able-bodies prisoners they could. Chaos and carnage were spreading like the wildfire that was devouring the place, and the street were littered with the bodies of the fallen and the dying, the screams of the few surviving citizens mingling with the noise of the crumbling buildings and the roaring flames. Kratos decided that his soldiers had done their share, and at this point, staying there any further would only be a disadvantage to them. He began calling for the soldiers to regroup, finding the groups of soldiers still in the village and giving them the order to retreat and report the order to their own companions. It did seem strange, to the Spartan soldiers, that their commander would order them to retreat just now that the village was right in their hands... but those soldiers had followed Kratos through thick and thin, most of them surviving more battles than they could count, and they had the utmost faith in their leader. Therefore, they wasted no time in trying to regroup and get away from the doomed village.

"All Spartan, regroup and retreat from this place!" Kratos bellowed as his soldiers began an orderly retreat towards the gates of the small city. "We have done all the damage we could! Staying further would only make us vulnerable to our enemies' later retaliation!"

"My lord, what are we to do?" one of his lieutenants, a bright-looking young man in bronze armor and helmet, holding a short sword in one hand and a round shieldin the other, asked his commander.

The Ghost of Sparta frowned slightly for just a second. "Regroup on the hills where we set up camp before launching our assault, and wait for new orders. I still have some business to attend here. Teocritos, I will leave you in command for now. You have always been my most trusted subordinate, and I know you will not fail me. You know what to do."

"Of course, general Kratos." the man answered readily. It just wasn't in a Spartan to hesitate over an order given by his superiors, and soon, the young lieutenant took the frontline in leading the rest of the Spartans to the place where the attack had started. "General Kratos, what will be of you?"

"I will rejoin you shortly. Worry not about me." he stated bluntly as the last of his soldiers left the plaza. Teocritos saluted and accepted Kratos' explanation, before leaving along with the rest of the Spartans, and soon, Kratos was left alone in the empty square, his heart filled with contrasting feelings of elation, anger and grim determination. His family was saved... but even he, who was not the kind of man who worried much about possible future consequences, had to wonder how long that would last, and the god of war, Ares, was not exactly known for forgiveness, even among the Olympians, who were known to hold grudges and hatred over the most incospicuous of things...

Surrounded by burning buildings, fallen defenders and debris, Kratos stared at the flames, managing to make out a malevolent visage glaring at him from the fire-wreathed rooftops. A visage contorted in an expression of anger and murderous intent, with two piercing red eyes that seemed to be glaring at the innermost depths of his soul. Immediately, Kratos understood that he was facing his first, and most hated enemy... Ares himself.

"ARES!" Kratos practically roared, pointing one of the Blades of Athena towards him before the warrior god even had a chance to speak. "That is how you wanted to cement my loyalty to you? By having me kill my wife and child in the temple of your sworn enemy?"

The flames went higher, and now Ares' face could be seen more clearly. The cruel, steel-hard eyes. The slightly aquiline nose. The red, literally burning hair and beard. The elaborate armor, only visible from the chest up. Kratos had no trouble believing that, if the god could, he would have already manifested on earth to smite Kratos for breaking ranks with him, and only the Olympian rules of non-intervention kept him from doing so.

"KRATOS..." the god of war growled, the flames composing his hair and beard flaring up slightly. "YOU HAVE RENEGED ME AND THE VOW YOU MADE WITH ME. THERE IS A PRICE FOR THE POWER I BESTOWED UPON YOU, AND YOU JUST REFUSED TO PAY THE PRICE FOR IT."

"I refuse to pay this price!" Kratos fired back. "Lysandra and Calliope have nothing to do with this! You should have kept them out of our bargain!"

"ON THE CONTRARY, KRATOS. THEY HAVE EVERYTHING TO DO WITH OUR PACT. YOU WISHED FOR ME TO DESTROY YOUR ENEMIES, AND I WOULD HAVE MADE YOU INTO THE GREATEST WARRIOR THIS WORLD HAS EVER KNOWN. BY GETTING RID OF THE TWO THINGS THAT WOULD HOLD YOU BACK, YOU WOULD HAVE REACHED EVEN GREATER POTENTIAL! BUT YOU REFUSED MY OFFER... YOU REFUSED AN OFFER FROM ONE OF THE GODS OF OLYMPUS!" Ares roared, angry at his chosen champion turning his back on him. His plans were being ruined, and he was losing the mainstay for them...

Kratos stood undaunted. "Very well then... if my wife and my daughter are the price I have to pay, then I refuse to pay!" he exclaimed. "Our covenant ends here, Ares! I will not be your slave any more!"

Ares glared hatefully at the Spartan general. "AS YOU WISH, FOOLISH MORTAL. YOU HAVE REJECTED ME, AND YOU SHALL PAY THE PRICE FOR IT! BY THE TIME I AM THROUGH WITH YOU, THE FATE OF PROMETHEUS WILL SEEM LIKE A GENTLE SPRING BREEZE!" he exclaimed, the flames growing higher before simmering down. Kratos sustained Ares' glare as the god disappeared in a shower of black smoke and pungent-smelling crimson fog, leaving behind the small town in ruins. With an hardened resolve, Kratos began walking away to rejoin his family, passing close to a feminine statue that, for some incredible luck, had not been destroyed in the fighting.

He almost failed to be surprised when the statue blinked to life, and Athena's calm voice echoed in his mind.

"KRATOS." The goddess of wisdom and strategy told him. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU HAVE DONE JUST NOW?"

"Athena." Kratos said, stopping to turn to the statue that had just spoken up.

The goddess made a pause, before turning back to her speech. "YOU HAVE GONE AS FAR AS TO TURN BACK THE WHEELS OF TIME ITSELF IN ORDER TO CHANGE YOUR FATE." she stated. "THIS WAS NEVER DONE BEFORE. I DID NOT THINK IT WAS EVEN POSSIBLE BEFORE YOU MANAGED TO PULL IT OFF. DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA OF HOW MUCH THIS WILL IMPACT OLYMPUS AND THE REST OF THE WORLD?"

"I care not what happens to this world." Kratos stated. "I was always in this to get rid of all the memories that have plagued me for so long... and now that I have found a way to make sure that my family is safe, should I not have taken it? Answer me, Athena! What was I to do?"

"I... UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU SAY, KRATOS. BUT DOING THIS MIGHT HAVE TERRIBLE CONSEQUENCES, THE LIKES OF WHICH EVEN ZEUS HIMSELF WON'T BE ABLE TO IMAGINE." Athena went on, before sighing in defeat. She knew she was not going to get through to Kratos by appealing to the common good of the world... and as of now, even with her knowledge of what had actually happened, all she could really do was make the most out of an unexpected situation. "WELL. I GUESS WHAT IS DONE IS DONE. ARE YOU PREPARED TO FACE THE CONSEQUENCES OF YOUR CHOICE, GHOST OF SPARTA?"

"As long as it is to save my family, there is nothing I would not do." Kratos answered. "You of all the Olympians should know that best."

"THAT IS SATISFACTORY FOR NOW." Athena stated. If she hadn't been an animated statue, she would have nodded. "I WILL APPEAR BEFORE YOU AT A LATER DATE, AND I WILL HELP YOU PROTECT YOUR FAMILY AGAINST ARES' REVENGE. YOU WILL HAVE ALLIES. IF WE ARE TO MAKE SENSE OF THE CHAOS THAT HAS BEEN UNLEASHED, WE NEED TO PUT ASIDE DIFFERENCES AND WORK TOGETHER. THIS WILL AID YOU IN PROTECTING YOUR FAMILY."

"I am fine with it, Athena." Kratos readily answered. "I will fight for you and thwart Ares' attempts at taking my family away. Furthermore, I will aid you in averting this cataclysm you speak of. See to it that this isn't yet another of the Olympians' lies."

"YOU HAVE MY WORD, KRATOS. AM I NOT THE GODDESS OF WISDOM, PERHAPS?" Athena answered, almost matter-of-factly. "BUT FOR NOW... I WISH YOU ENJOY THE TIME YOU WILL SPEND WITH YOUR FAMILY. I THINK... YOU HAVE EARNED YOURSELF A LITTLE RESPITE. SO ENJOY IT FOR NOW."

Kratos could almost see a smile playing on the statue's lips as the contact with Athena ended, and let out a short, relieved sigh before heading to the gates of the city. It was time for a much-belated family reunion...

**oooooooooo**

Lysandra and Calliope were standing atop a desolate grassy hill, right out of the village's walls, and were looking with fear and relief at the same time at the sea of fire that the town had become. They were frightened at both the carnage and the fact that, only a few minutes ago, they were in the middle of it, and about to be put to the sword... and were then saved by Kratos, who didn't seem to actually know what had happened himself.

What was going on there? It was clear to them that there was a plan underway, and they wished to know more about that...

Their thoughts were interrupted when they managed to see the tall, menacing yet at the same time reassuring sight of Kratos walking his way up the hill they were standing on, and finally reaching them. He stopped, looking at them while catching his breath... and for several moments, they stood in silence, none of them managing to find the right words for the situation. It was rather awkward... to think that Kratos had been longing for this moment for almost 22 years now, and now he couldn't find the right words to say...

It was Calliope, in her childish innocence, to break the ice, taking astep towards her father and pointing at him uncertainly. "Father? Father, what happened to you? Why is your skin so... white?" she asked, catching the Spartan general off guard and leaving him speechless for a moment as he looked at himself. In fact, his skin was still covered in the ashes of his family, even though Lysandra and Calliope were alive now... for some reason, going back in time had not managed to erase that mark from his body. He was confused at how that could be... but he couldn't find it in himself to care about that now. He was with his family now... the rest could wait.

"I do not know, Calliope... nor do I really care." Kratos answered, his voice shaking ever so slightly. With a final stride, the Ghost of Sparta reached his family and enveloped them in an embrace, catching both of them off guard!

"The only thing I care now... is that you're here, and safe." Kratos said, his voice carrying a tone of warmth and relief that both mother and daughter were unused to hear in Kratos' voice. The mighty warrior gently held his wife and his daughter close, as if he was afraid that they could disappear at a moment's notice... and after a moment of befuddlement, Lysandra returned the embrace. In spite of how much she berated her husband for his warmongering ways, Lysandra still loved him a lot.

"Father... what is the matter?" Calliope asked, holding her father for all her small body was worth. "I have never seen you act like this... it is like you have not seen us in years!"

Kratos looked down at his daughter... and for the first time in so many years, a sincere, joyful smile spread on his hardened face.

"You do not know the half of it, my child..." he answered gently. But the gravity of the situation hit him full force a second later, and he knew they would have to get away from there, and think about what to do next. "But... we do not have time to stay idle right now. We need to get away from here."

"I would like to get some explanation on what is going on here, Kratos." Lysandra said, gently but firmly. "What had happened in the shrine? We saw someone looking like you advancing on us, with intent to kill us... and then you came and stopped him. But when the light died down, you were the only one there, and I could not see our assailant disappear or get away. What happened in there?"

"I will explain everything in due time." Kratos said, his serious scowl back in place as he led his wife and child down the hill, to the place where the Spartan Army was waiting for him. "For now, we need to find a safer place for you. But worry not... as long as there is life in me, I will not allow any harm to come to you."

"Very well, Kratos. We are putting our trust in you." Lysandra answered...

**oooooooooo**

Zeus, the supreme ruler of Mt. Olympus and the pantheon, wasn't really caught off guard by his son, Ares, literally burst through the doors to his throne room, incensed at the latest happening. Almost absently, Zeus stroked the head of a majestic eagle that had perched itself on his throne's armrest, while listening to Ares' tirade about Kratos breaking ranks with him.

"THIS ACT CANNOT GO UNPUNISHED, FATHER!" Ares roared, the flames composing his hair and beard flaring higher. "KRATOS RENEGED HIS VOW AND WENT BACK ON THE PRICE HE WAS ASKED TO PAY! I DEMAND THAT HIS PUNISHMENT BE CARRIED OUT!"

"THEN, METE OUT PUNISHMENT AS YOU DESIRE, MY SON." Zeus answered almost tiredly. Was that the reason Ares was bothering him? "IF KRATOS ACTUALLY DID GO BACK ON HIS WORD, THEN ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS CONSULT THE FURIES ABOUT THAT. I AM SURE THEY WILL BE... EAGER... TO HELP YOU PUNISH THE OATHBREAKER. AS SOMEONE WHO HAS NO BEARING ON THIS OATH OR KRATOS' ACTIONS, I CANNOT INTERFERE IN THIS MATTER."

"I UNDERSTAND... FATHER." Ares grunted and nodded once, accepting Zeus' decision and walking away from the throne room, grumbling something under his breath. This was not going as planned. His plan never contemplated dying at Kratos' hands only to get resurrected when Kratos did something with the flow of time. And if his instincts were correct, he would soon have to face something much worse than just a simple disturbance...

"_THIS WAS COMPLETELY IMPOSSIBLE TO PREDICT. THE PLAN MIGHT BE IN JEOPARDY._" Ares thought to himself as he stormed through the corridors of the huge mansion of the Olympians. "_ALECTO AND HER SISTERS WILL SURELY AID ME IN REINING KRATOS IN, BUT THE PROBLEM STILL REMAINS. I NEED TIME TO WORK MY WAY AROUND THIS... BUT MARK MY WORDS, KRATOS, YOU WILL REGRET CROSSING ME! YOU COULD HAVE BECOME THE GREATEST WARRIOR OF ALL TIME... AND YET YOU CHOSE TO SAVE YOUR PATHETIC FAMILY. I WILL MAKE SURE YOU SUFFER... ALL THESE YEARS OF TORMENT YOU'VE ENDURED BEFORE GOING BACK WILL SOON SEEM LIKE NOTHING TO YOU!_"

**oooooooooo**

In his throne room, Zeus, the supreme ruler of Olympus, took a deep breath as he studied the situation. This was indeed troubling, and something that had never happened before. Kratos had destroyed the Sisters of Fate, something even Zeus thought to be impossible, and had actually used Clotho's threads to rewind time no less than 22 years, actually averting the death of his family and managing to break his covenant with Ares. By itself, this wasn't enough to have Zeus worried. In fact, he was pleased about that. This would mean that Ares was going to have one less weapon to use against Olympus, though he was sure the god of war had more tricks up his sleeve.

No, what was more troubling was the fact that such a thing - going back in time and actually changing such an important event - could have had far-reaching consequences. Zeus himself had no idea what could happen now, and he knew he would have to watch out. Once the impossible starts happening, the dreadful possibilities are endless...

"Getting worried, aren't we... my _beloved_?" A mature female voice, thickly slurred with sarcasm and a hint of drunkenness, broke the King of Olympus out of his thoughts, and Zeus turned his white, pupilless eyes to his left, as his wife Hera walked in, chuckling in a mean-spirited manner and holding her ever-filled cup, dripping with fine red wine, in her right hand. She seemed to be very pleased with what was happening, and the fact that history was being changed and Olympus might be in danger seemed not to matter much to her. Furthermore, it was strange that she actually

"HERA. WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" Zeus asked, calmly yet firmly. The goddess chuckled again, firing a nasty glance at her hated husband.

"Why, I was just passing through. And I just happened to realize that your... dear son's escapade... has you rather preoccupied." she stated, resisting the urge to gloat. "You did not use to be so lenient towards our own son. Is it just me, or your troubles are clouding your judgement?"

Zeus frowned, an angry expression marring his features. In spite of his flowing white beard and hair, the ruler of Mt. Olympus still projected an air of authority and command. "DO NOT MISTAKE LACK OF CARING FOR LACK OF KNOWING, HERA." he warned. "AND THAT GOES FOR OUR SON AS WELL. THE FACT THAT I HAVE MUCH TO THINK ABOUT DOES NOT MEAN THAT I WILL OVERLOOK WHAT HAPPENS RIGHT HERE AND NOW. BE WARNED."

Hera took a sip from her chalice, before shrugging uncaringly and walking away. "In that case, I will not question further. I'll be content with just sitting back and see how these... unexpected developments turn out." she stated. "I just hope you don't get in over your head... my _beloved_!"

With that last sarcastic quip, Hera left, leaving the annoyed Zeus alone in his throne room. The king of the gods dismounted from his throne and looked out of a windows, his arms folded, as strange black thunderclouds gathered in the distance, as if prophetizing the coming troubles...

**oooooooooo**

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	5. The Penitent Crusader

**God of War's Inferno**

**oooooooooo**

**Chapter 5 - The Penintent Crusader**

In another place... and another time...

The blasted lands of Hell were tracherous, difficult and deadly, a place no sane man would willingly go - hordes of devils flying around, ready to torture, maim and kill at the most insignificant provocation; gouts of flame, lightning and other deadly traps that would frighten the most hardened of soldiers; howling winds, oceans of lava, filthy bogs of poison and acid; there was no end to the screams of the damned, the souls of people who had lived an evil life, and were being punished by being tortured there for all eternity, forever barred from seeing the light of the Heavens.

And yet, a lone living soul was willing to brave that hideous place, in search for his precious one, whom had been taken away from him in a cruel way. He was a tall and imposing man dressed in what looked like the armor of a crusader of the 12th century, with a steel helmet covering the top of his head, with a chain mail covering on his neck, a pair of steel shoulder guards and red wrappings around his arms, ending in a pair of strong, coarse hands holding what looked like a gigantic, sinister sickle. He was wearing grey pants and brown leather boots, with polished leg guards... but strangely enough, his muscular chest was bare, except for a red cross made of cloth that had been literally stitched on his own skin, which was crisscrossed with scars in the places where the needle had gone into the flesh. He had a grim countenance as he swung his scythe around, slicing several hideous creatures to pieces and slowly but surely inching forward.

As soon as there were no more enemies around him, Dante took a deep breath, filling his lungs with the stale, foul-smelling air that permeated Hell... and amidst all the screaming and gnashing of teeth, he managed to make out a faint cry, as if a lonely, desperate soul was crying for attention. He took a good look around, and saw that there was a lonely damned soul hidden in a crevice of the cliff he was climbing. Deciding he might as well know who that was, Dante climbed his way up the hideout of the damned soul, finding himself face to face with a dangerously thin, dirty, naked and hairless human figure that seemed to be unable to even stand on his own legs. He was blubbering and murmuring mindlessly to himself, but Dante could make out a couple of his words... namely, something about love that does not suffer that a beloved one does not love back...

As soon as Dante came closer, the damned raised his head and looked fearfully at him, inching backwards as the crusader walked up to him. "No... No, stay away! I beseech you, do not do me harm!" the damned one exclaimed in despair.

"Who would you be?" Dante asked in a steely tone. "Why are you in this hopeless place?"

Somewhat surprised that the newcomer did not know who he was, the condemned soul shuddered and dropped on all fours, pathetically trying to move to Dante and bow to him. "I... I am Paolo Malatesta... I suffer here, in the Circle of Lust, for committing adultery with Francesca, my brother's wife..." he murmured, his voice growing more and more frantic. "As punishment for our sins... Francesca and I are to forever be tormented by the howling winds that scour this Circle, never to meet each other again!"

Feeling some measure of sympathy and pity for this damned, Dante took out a large silver cross from his back and placed in on Paolo's head, where it began glowing with a sacred white light... and after a moment of wilderment, Paolo began literally shedding his dirtied body, turning into a being of pure light as he floated upwards, all of his pain and suffering being washed away.

"Your suffering is at an end." Dante said. "_In Nomine Patris, _I absolve thee."

"Thank you... I can see it... the light..." the relieved Paolo answered, his body finally turning into light and fading away into the light of salvation. Dante signed himself, vowing to himself to send Francesca to join him if he could find her somehow. He then took up his scythe once again, getting ready to fight through another multitude of demons in order to reach the upper part of the cliff. However, he was surprised to see that there weren't as many demons as he had feared... the only ones he found himself facing were a few lowly Pests and Undead Minions, which didn't take long to be destroyed. By now, Dante was expecting something more significant to oppose him, like a Guardian Devil or something. It seemed a little suspicious to him that the opposition seemed to have gotten weaker.

Deciding not to trouble himself with that just yet, Dante climbed his way up the cliff, ending by the side of a large, unpaved road that went towards the most important place in the Circle of Lust - the tower of Cleopatra, the seductive Egyptian queen that had become the ruler of that circle of Hell. He knew that the only way to get deeper into Hell was to get there and defeat the ruler... but once again, the suspicious lack of defenses did not go unnoticed by the seasoned crusader, who frowned in doubt. There was something off about all of this. Was Cleopatra deliberately trying to lull him into a false sense of security, so that he would lower his guard and be overwhelmed by a greater number of demons later on? Or was it something else entirely? From where he was standing, Dante had no way to know for sure... he just hoped he could meet Vergil again soon. Maybe the poet did have some insight on whaat was happening. But for now, there were more pressing matters. Cleopatra's Tower was ahead, and along with it, his only chance to reach the Circle of Gluttony and proceed in his quest.

Dante grabbed his scythe once again and nodded to himself, proceeding in his slow, unyielding path.

"Beatrice." he said to himself. "Wait for me. I will be there for you soon."

oooooooooo

The scorching sun of the Greek spring was beating upon the huge polis of Sparta, who was seemingly enjoying a rare moment of peace, among all the campaigns it was often embroiled in. The house belonging to Kratos' family was a large, well-furnished construction in the most well-off part of the large city-state, with a wide garden teeming with olives and fruit trees... and at that moment, the mighty warlord was enjoying a day where he could simply be a father and a husband, after so many years spent in mission all around the Mediterrean doing this or that errand from whatever Olympian needed him.

Despite this, Kratos' senses were still sharp, and he was always careful about everything that entered his field of vision. So used he was to putting his life at risk in battle, that even when nothing bad was happening, he was on the alert. He just couldn't drop his guard and relax... which many would have thought wise, as despite his apparent lack of care about the whole business, he knew he had kicked up the proverbial hornet's nest with that time-travelling stunt. He also knew Ares was up in arms, and right now, he was probably planning a way to make Kratos pay for breaking ranks with him.

The Ghost of Sparta frowned, letting out a small sigh. If there was anyone who knew how Ares operated, it was him. The God of War was aggressive, hotheaded and ambitious... but he was no fool. If Athena was any indication, even Ares knew what had happened... and he knew that Kratos, ten years from now, would have gotten the power of Pandora's Box and used it to slay Ares and put an end to his supremacy. With the knowledge of the future, Ares was going to become an even more dangerous enemy... and Kratos knew very well that his family was not safe from his reprisals. In fact, they would probably be the first victims of the warrior god's thirst for revenge... Kratos was certainly going to be vigilant, but now that he wasn't as powerful as he used to be, he knew that he had to rely on Athena's help to keep his family safe. Athena had spoken of a way to make sure his family was going to be protected, and Kratos trusted Athena - at least, as far as a man like him could trust the promises of an Olympian.

Trying to get his mind off of the situation for a while, Kratos had begun working on making a new flute for his little Calliope, using a small knife to hollow out a piece of wood and make sure it was able to create sound. As he worked on cutting off small pieces of wood and rendering the flute as smooth as possible, Kratos spared a glance at his skin, which was still the same damning, ashen color it had been ever since he had committed what he regarded as his most heinous crime. It seemed that, even with Lysandra and Calliope alive and well, he could not escape that mark of shame that was permanently etched on his body.

Not that he really minded, though. It still served him as a stark reminder of what he had done - and a stern warning of what would befall him if he ever let his rage control his actions once again. He had been given a second chance, just when he thought he had lost it forever, and he was not going to squander it.

His keen senses picked up a small movement and the sound of the grass being stepped upon from behind him, and knowing who that was, Kratos turned to the source of the noise. Calliope was walking towards him, just as adorable as he remembered her, with her light green tunic and her sandals, and that innocent smile on her face. However, Kratos managed to pick up the fact that she was worried about him - there was something about her mannerisms that just felt a little off to him, and Kratos was perceptive enough to understand what that could be about.

"Calliope." Kratos said, turning to his daughter and gently ruffling her hair with his huge hand. "What is the matter? Is anything worrying you?"

"I'm not sure, father." the little girl answered, her petite hand holding Kratos' wrist in a gentle matter. "Ever since we saw you again, you seem to be... different. And it's not just the fact that your skin has become white... I don't really know how to say it, but it's like you have become more calm... and you look sad, somehow. Is that true?"

Mentally blessing his daughter's innocence, Kratos looked in the distance, managing to see Lysandra coming back from what seemed to be a walk in the field. "I have had much to think about, ever since Sparta's last campaign ended, my child." he answered. "Let's just say... that several events have caused me to realize I was making a terrible mistake, and that even so, our lives may yet be turned upside down. But you do not need to worry about that. Your father will find a way to make sure it all turns out fine. So, don't be sad, Calliope... and just think that Dad is carving a new flute for you. You always liked to play the flute, right?"

Calliope smiled, even though Kratos could see that he hadn't completely assuaged her fears. "Yes, father... thank you very much! But now, I think I need to leave you alone. Mother seems to want to speak with you about something."

"It is just as well." Kratos told himself. The problem would have to be solved, sooner or later, and speaking to Lysandra about it could have gone a long way towards making things a little bit easier. "I will see you later, Calliope. For now, your mother and I have something important to discuss."

The little girl nodded and walked away, leaving her parents to talk between themselves as Lysandra stopped under the shade of the olive tree Kratos was sitting under. The Ghost of Sparta stood up, dusting himself and looking back at his beloved wife, who decided not to beat around the bush and went straight to the point.

"Calliope is right, you know." she said, her eyes never faltering as she stood in front of her husband, and one of the most feared men in the Mediterrean. "Ever since you found us in that shrine dedicated to Athena, one week ago, you haven't been quite the same anymore. I think you should come clear about it, Spartan. What caused you to change so dramatically within a few days? Not to mention the strange pallor of your skin, which hasn't gone away."

Kratos inwardly smiled at the irony of the statement. Lysandra had always been a sharp woman, but she had no way of knowing that 22 years had actually passed ever since he had last seen her and Calliope alive... and it would be hard to really explain what was going on.

"Something is vexing you. I can tell." Lysandra insisted, calmly yet firmly. "And I would appreciate if you would come clear about it."

"I owe you this much, Lysandra. So, I will at least tell you about my motives." Kratos answered, before looking in the distance and starting his tale. "It all started a few years ago. Right after I had managed to win the Olympians' challenge to win the Ambrosia and cure Calliope from the malady that was threatening to take her away from us."

Lysandra nodded, remembering that episode like it had happened the day before. The members of the Gerousia had judged Calliope to be too weak to be the daughter of two Spartan citizens, because of a debilitating disease that seemed to have come out of nowhere. According to Spartan law, Calliope was to be put to death on the dreaded Mt. Taygetus, where deformed or diseaded Spartan children were left to die, but Kratos and Lysandra had convinced the elders to put off the sentence for a while, at least for enough time to allow Kratos to get his hands on the Ambrosia. While the elders had been somewhat reluctant, Kratos was considered a hero to all Spartans already, so they figured it would do to at least all him to try. And come back Kratos did, bringing the precious medicine with him and saving his daughter's life. But it was after that that Kratos had become even more ruthless and cruel than he used to be, launching himself in brutal campaigns of conquest, and razing several cities to the ground...

Lysandra motioned for her husband to go on, and Kratos nodded and continued his tale. "During one of the battles I led my men into, we ended up facing overwhelming opposition." he stated. "The Barbarian King of the unknown lands, and his army of savages, were actually managing to destroy Sparta's perfected phalanxes and disrupt our strategies. My men were dying around myself by the dozens, and I myself was being overwhelmed by the Barbarian King's brute strength. It was then that I took a fateful decision."

Lysandra could already guess where Kratos was going with his tale, but prompted him to go on all the same, casting him a serious glance. "I pledged myself to Ares, the God of War himself. I asked him to destroy my enemies, and in exchange, my soul would be his."

"I... sort of suspected that would be the case." Lysandra said severely. "Kratos, you knew what you were getting into what you pledged your soul to a god as bloodthirsty as Ares. All he would have you do is jump from one battle to another, from one slaughter to another, in a mad attempt to slake his hunger for death. You know, that actually goes a long way towards explaining why Sparta ended up getting involved in more and more wars, with you at the command of the army."

"It was all for the glory of Sparta." Kratos answered with an angry frown. "The proud Spartan army could not be defeated by a bunch of illiterate savages living like beasts in the wild."

Once again, Lysandra was not convinced by Kratos' justifications. "Just be honest about it and say it was all for your personal glory." she said, shaking her head. "Even selling your soul to the God of War was not too steep a price to pay for your ambition."

Kratos swallowed something bitter, but deep down, he knew he could not counter what his wife was saying. It was true, even though it annoyed Kratos to admit it... he didn't think pledging himself to Ares was much of a drawback, at least until he realized what this vow truly entailed. Acting in the spur of the moment, to save his own life and get more power for himself, Kratos hadn't even stopped to think about what he was doing, and the consequences would haunt him for the rest of his life...

Deciding it was better to drop the subject before embarking in a pointless argument, Kratos went on. "Hmph. Anyway, the deal I struck with Ares seemed to be a boon at first. Ares gifted me with the Blades of Chaos, two powerful swords forged in the very heart of Tartarus, and gave me more than enough power to slay the Barbarian King and rout his army, bringing yet another victory to Sparta. What I didn't know... was the fact that, in order to finalize my deal with Ares, I would not only have to spill the blood of my enemies and of the innocent, but that of my own family as well."

"I'm beginning to make sense of it." Lysandra answered. "Ares knew that you were never going to accept to kill us, so he did not inform you of this part of the deal... and tricked me and Calliope into going to the very town your army was attacking on that day. This way, he could easily manipulate events so that you unwitting slew us both and cemented your deal with Ares. Am I correct?"

Kratos could do nothing but nod. "When I discovered that this was what Ares wanted from me, in order to get rid of what, in his opinion, was holding me back from becoming the ultimate fighter... I decided that losing you was not a price I was willing to pay, and renounced my covenant with Ares. I decided to aid Athena instead. As the goddess who most vehemently opposes Ares, I was sure she'd help me keeping you safe from Ares' reprisal. Which will not be long in coming, if I know him."

"But how can you be sure Athena will know how to contrast Ares' revenge?" Lysandra asked with a small sigh. "If you know him so well, that you also know that Ares will stop at nothing in order to get his revenge, and there is not one place n the world where we will be safe from his servants."

Kratos looked up, staring at the cloudless sky, tinted a pristine azure. "It is all I have now, my love." he said. "I betrayed Ares because I could not just sit by and let you and our daughter die... and if there was the slightest chance that allying myself with Ares' greatest enemy would save you, then I was willing to take it."

Lysandra sighed, not liking where this was going. "I am not sure how this is going to end, Kratos." she answered. "You have made an enemy out of an Olympian god, and now, he will not rest until he has extracted his revenge. Furthermore... I can't help but wonder why he needed you, and not someone else, for this."

Kratos was about to answer, but a strong female voice coming from behind him beat him to the punch. "It is all part of Ares' ambition. He needed a warrior strong enough to topple Zeus and let him take over Mt. Olympus. And he thought that, by taking away Kratos' most important people, he would be able to make Kratos dependant on him and make him into a mindless slave. But the plan backfired on him." she said. As Kratos turned in suspicion, he found himself face to face with the very same goddess who had assisted him for so long... Athena, in the form of a tall, athletic young woman with a warrior's countenance, had appeared out of nowhere close to Kratos and Lysandra, startling the Spartan woman... and Calliope, who was sitting nearby. "I apologize for my intruding in personal matters. But I have something of the utmost imporrtance to tell you. You must be Lysandra, the woman Kratos loves."

"Lady Athena." Lysandra said respectfully. She humbly bowed in front of the goddess of wisdom, and even little Calliope, who had ran there in a hurry, offered Athena a polite curtsey. "We were summoned to your temple a few days ago, because of a sign that the Ephores interpreted as your doing. But it appears it was all a ruse from Ares in order to get us slain."

"Indeed it was, Spartan woman." Athena answered. "Ares is furious and thirsty for revenge now, but he is no fool. He is giving priority to his plan to overthrow Zeus, and right now he is attempting to salvage what he can. His accomplice Alecto, the Queen of Furies, and her sisters are now aiding him, but they will take some time to move out and for now, we have some time to get you two to safety."

"Can that be true, Athena?" Kratos asked roughly, allowing himself to be hopeful for a moment. "Is what you are saying the truth?"

The goddess slowly nodded. "In the island of Crete, on the peaks of Mount Ida, where Zeus was brought up in order to remain hidden from the greedy eyes of Cronos, the King of Titans. That place is beyond Ares' ability to survey, and you should be able to stay there in safety."

"Mount Ida? I heard about that..." Calliope stated, somewhat uncertainly. "That was where Lord Zeus was brought up by the goat Amalthea, isn't it?"

"You are correct, child." Athena answered, giving a barely visible smile to Calliope. "While he was there, Lord Zeus could not be seen by Cronos, and should the baby Zeus cry, the Kouretes would clash their spears against their shields so that his voice would not be heard by Cronus. It is the safest place I could think of. Worry not, for you shall be protected from Ares' wrath while you're there."

On one hand, Kratos was glad to know there was a chance for his family to stay safe. On the other, he was loathe to allow anyone else close to his wife and child, and he still held an healthy amount of suspicion towards the Olympians. Staring at Athena right in the eye, the Spartan warrior asked her the question he had had in mind for a while now. "Does Zeus know of all this, Athena? It sounds strange that he hasn't objected to your idea. Is there something we should know about, before you take my family in a place far away, where I might not be able to protect them in case problems arrive?"

"Suspicious as always, aren't we?" Athena said with an amused half-smile. "Let us just say that Lord Zeus wants Ares to be stopped just as much as I do. He's simply doing what is more convenient to both him, you and the rest of Olympus. Without your family to be used as leverage against you, Ares loses an important bargaining chip, and this will help you fight against his plots without distractions. As for the rest..."

Athena suddenly stopped, a worried frown appearing on her face, and she turned her head to her left, in the direction of Mt. Olympus. Kratos himself frowned noticeably, while Lysandra and Calliope took on puzzled expressions. It was not like Athena to leave a sentence unfinished in order to look around in such a surprised manner. As the goddess of wisdom, among other things, something truly extraordinary had to happen in order to catch her off guard.

"What is the matter, Athena?" Kratos finally asked, not liking where this was going. "What has happened right now to merit your worry?"

The answer Athena gave was even more worrying. "I... am not sure." she admitted. "Something is coming, but I have no idea who or what it is. We cannot afford to waste any more time here. We are at danger any moment we stay."

"Even Lady Athena is in danger from this?" Calliope asked, fear clearly audible in her voice. Kratos gently put an hand on his daughter's shoulder, trying to assuage her fear.

"I cannot say for sure. Which, for one such as myself, is troubling enough in itself." Athena admitted. "But I am afraid the times are changing faster than any of us would like. The supremacy of the Olympians has never been more in jeopardy. Let's not waste any more time, and to Mount Ida we go. Further explanation will have to wait."

"So be it then." Kratos nodded. Athena simply waved a hand, and the whole family began disappearing, teleported away to the safety of Mt. Ida...

oooooooooo

"O living creature... be graceful and benign..." another damned soul, this time belonging to a woman, pleaded Dante as the penitent crusader got closer to her while he was climbing up a steep, winding road up the side of a rocky cliff. Dante eyed her suspiciously, having a hunch on who she might be already. His cross already in his hand, Dante approached her, trying to look non-threatening and yet confident at the same time.

"Who might you be, woman?" he asked, grabbing her by the shoulder. The damned flinched in gear and tried to make herself even more incospicuous, for all that she could possibly do.

"I... I am Francesca da Polenta..." she murmured. "I suffer here, in the Circle of Lust, for the love I had for my husband's younger brother Paolo, who is similarly condemned. Love brought us to a similar end... and now, we are separated, never to meet again."

"Your beloved is waiting for you on the other side." Dante answered, showing her the cross, which glowed in a holy light. "I absolve you of your sins. Your soul is now free."

Just like with Paolo, Francesca's soul shed her filthy outer layer and became a blur of pure white light, ascending to a place of bliss and reward, and the young woman smiled peacefully at Dante, blessing him with her eyes, before moving on to her final fate of salvation.

"_Oh... perfect redemption... Paolo, my beloved... now we're together..._" she exclaimed blissfully. Dante signed himself as the young woman vanished, then took a look around in order to assess the situation. Again, it seemed that the devils weren't paying too much attention to the intruder... and now, Dante could see legions of devils and damned souls who were seemingly migrating in the distance, towards some unknown place. Whatever it was, he was sure it wasn't going to be anything pleasant...

"Where are those fiends going?" he asked himself, looking at the seemingly endless sea of monsters walking away in the distance.

The diaphamous, ghostly figure of a man garbed in ancient roman robes, holding a walking staff and wearing a faded laurel crown on his bald head answered his question, this voice belonging to Virgil, the great Roman poet who had written the Aeneid. "_Troubling is the way those devils are acting._" he said, himself unsure of what was going on. "_Times of change are afoot in this place filled with pain and tears, and your quest may yet take you to places you had not even dreamt about before._"

"I cannot falter now..." Dante said to himself, grabbing his scythe as he watched the myriads of devils and evil souls marching towards the unknown. "Beatrice needs me. I will go wherever it's needed in order to save her soul and make my penance..."

oooooooooo

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	6. Assault On Olympus

**God of War's Inferno**

**oooooooooo**

**Chapter 6 - Assault on Olympus**

The vista that could be enjoyed from the highest peaks of Mt. Ida was what one could safely consider breathtaking: for miles and miles around, all that could be seen was a seemingly endless carpet of green grass adorned with lush flowers and tall trees, a clear stream of water running freely through the fields. It wasn't hard to imagine that this was the place where Zeus was brought up... and little Calliope was already charmed with it, staring in wide-eyed wonder at the marvel of nature surrounding her.

"Lady Athena, this is... so beautiful!" the little girl said, taking a few steps in the soft grass. Her parents were staying close to her, while Athena was keeping her eyes on the horizon, in the direction of Mt. Olympus, her earlier feeling only getting stronger as time went by. "Are... are we going to stay here until you and father can solve that... problem you were telling us about?"

"That will be the plan, assuming there are no complications." Athena answered, still staring in the direction of the abode of the gods. "But for now, you and your parents will stay here, where Ares' hand cannot reach you. In any case, I'm sure that if anything happened, your father will be more than able to protect you."

Kratos nodded severely, but one could see that his fears were still not completely assuaged. "That works for me, Athena. You can be sure that I will defend my wife and my daughter with my very life. But I'm still not convinced. I want to know what exactly is this... menace you're being vague about." he said, staring at the goddess of wisdom and strategy straight in the eye, as if to remind her that he still had no love for the Olympians, and that if she ever tried to deceive him, there would be hell to pay.

"As I said, I cannot be sure myself." Athena answered. "This is an event that is unprecedented in the history of Mt. Olympus. Never before have we had to deal with an enemy that we know nothing about. Not even during the Great War against the Titans has this ever happened. For the moment, I will have to go back to Mt. Olympus, and help out against this menace if necessary. After that, I will be able to tell you more about it."

"Fine." Kratos grunted, thinking that for the moment, the important thing was that his ffamily was not in danger any more. As the mighty Spartan warrior stepped back, rejoining his family, Athena nodded to him and began vanishing in front of their very eyes, with Lysandra and Calliope keeping their glances affixed on her until the very end. Finally, when the goddess was gone, Lysandra sighed and pointed to a group of caves, barely one minute of walking away from them.

"We need to think of getting somewhere safe for now." the Spartan woman told her husband. "For now, we will seek shelter inside those caves. If worse comes to worse, and this danger Lady Athena speaks of can actually reach us here, at least we will be able to stay hidden for a bit longer."

Kratos, for his part, was thinking it would be faster and less complicated to just walk up to whoever was causing trouble and slice him to pieces with the Blades of Athena, but the fact that his family needed him to protect them managed to curb his impulsive temper, and the Spartan nodded grimly before he and his family walked towards one of the caves. They were only a few steps away, when an armored figure, carrying a bronze spear and a round shield, and wearing a bronze breastplace and an helm shaped similarly to the head of an eagle, walked out of the opening and stood in front of them, his spear raised and pointed. Calliope, somewhat intimidated, hugged her mother's leg while staring fearfully at the soldier... but before the man could say or do anything, Kratos' Blades of Athena flashes forward and snapped the spear in half, sending the pointed end sailing through the air and embedding itself in the grass, while the soldier stared at his broken weapon in disbelief.

"Try raising a weapon against my wife and my daughter again, and I'll tear you apart." Kratos threatened the man, who dropped what was left of his weapon and moved his hand in front of himself in an assuaging gesture.

"My apologies, Lord Kratos. We had not recognized you, and we feared you might be one of the unknown invaders that seem to be encroaching on the horizon." the man stated, raising his head slightly to show a rough, sunburnt face with almost hypnotic sky-blue eyes. A few more soldiers like him emerged from the caves, their spears lowered in a gesture of respect, and Kratos and his family quickly understood that those people were probably the Kouretes, the group of warrior-priests who guarded young Zeus' life before he came of age and faced Cronos.

"I take it you have already heard of us from Lady Athena, then?" Lysandra asked, gently ruffling Calliope's hair in order to tell her that everything was alright.

Another one of the Kouretes nodded. "We did. It was Lord Zeus' daughter who informed us of Ares' plot to take over Olympus, and the role Lord Kratos was supposed to have in it." he answered. "Please, follow us. We will take you to safety... and hopefully, Lady Athena will be able to update us on the situation soon enough."

"I am doing something I am not used to, and placing my faith in you." Kratos answered. "Make sure not to disappoint me."

"We will not, Lord Kratos. You and your family are our responsability as well, right now... as it is, you three are center pieces in this struggle to decide the future of Olympus and the world at large." the warrior-priest answered. "We will aid you and our other guests as best as we can."

Kratos frowned at the mention of other guests, and even Lysandra and Calliope could not hide their surprise. And here they thought they were the only ones to be hidden in that place... "Other guests?" Kratos sked in suspicion. "And who would these... other guests be?"

The leader of the Kouretes smiled slightly at that. Athena did warn him that Kratos was going to be very suspicious, and above all, that he wasn't going to be much of a team player. It was nothing they did not expect. "Let us just say that Lady Athena did think it would be more prudent to have someone else backing you up in order to oppose Ares and the new menace. But you will be able to know more about it soon. Please, follow me, and we'll explain everything once we get there."

Knowing there was not much he could do at the moment, Kratos grunted in displeasure and continued following the Kouretes to wherever they were going, occasionally glancing back at Calliope and Lysandra to see if everything was okay with them. It had been some time ever since he had felt so nervous and on edge when a battle was about to start... and as he reasoned that his long period of solitude had made him accustomized to fighting without any worries distracting him from the task at hand, he also knew that he had to change that, if he was going to save his family.

And in order to do that, he would grit his teeth and accept working with the people Athena had brought along. He just hoped they would not be too much of a liability...

oooooooooo

"HERMES. FOR YOU TO COME HERE IN A HURRY, NOT EVEN STOPPING TO SAY ONE OF YOUR SNARKY COMMENTS... IT MUST MEAN THAT SOMETHING TRULY VEXING IS HAPPENING." Zeus said, his piercing white eyes affixed on the breathless messanger of Olympus kneeling down at the foot of his throne. Hermes, his luminous hair slightly disheveled and his vests somewhat in disorder, wiped his forehead with his hand and waited until he had gotten enough breath back, before saying what he had come to say, in front of a large auditory composed of several Olympians.

"Lord Zeus, the situation is bad." Hermes said in an high-pitched vice. "An host of unknown creatures is on their way to Olympus as we speak, with clear intent to attack us. I do nt think Olympus has faced such great a danger ever since we were under seige from Typhon and the other Titans!"

"WHAT?" Poseidon bellowed in disbelief. "IS THAT SOME KIND OF JOKE, HERMES? HAS YOUR EXCESSIVE PARTAKING IN DIONYSUS' REVELING CLOUDED YOUR JUDGEMENT? WHAT YOU ARE SAYING IS ABSOLUTELY PREPOSTEROUS!"

"AND YET, THE POSSIBILITY IS NOT TO BE DISMISSED, BROTHER." Zeus told his eldest brother, causing Poseidon to frown noticeably. "REMEMBER, WE HAVE WITNESSED AN EVENT THAT NOBODY OF US THOUGHT POSSIBLE. KRATOS SLEW THE SISTERS OF FATE AND CAUSED TIME TO FLOW BACKWARDS. WE ALL KNEW THAT THIS ACTION MIGHT CAUSE UNEXPECTED EFFECTS. THIS IS BUT ONE OF THEM!"

"If that is the case, enough of pointless wraggling." Helios, the shining god of the sun, exclaimed. "We need to organize our defenses and repel these opponents. We will need every last one of our resources in order to face them."

Zeus nodded. "INDEED. HAVE HERCULES CALLED AS WELL. HIS STRENGTH WILL BE UNVALUABLE IN THIS ENDEAVOR. ARE THE WHEREABOUTS OF MY SON ARES AND MY DAUGHTER ATHENA KNOWN?"

"They should be here any moment now, Lord Zeus." Hermes stated, standing up while hoping that he was not to be fighting on the frontlines against an unknown enemy. Zeus nodded in approval and, much to the relief of the messanger of Olympus, dismissed him before standing up from his throne. He clenched one of his mighty hands at his side, and a glowing, crackling ball of electricity appeared upon his fist. His eyes lit up with an unearthy blue glow, promising death to the enemies of Olympus.

"COME, MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS. LET US LEAVE OUR PETTY RESENTMENTS ASIDE, AND FIGHT ALONGSIDE EACH OTHER TO PROTECT THAT WHICH WE HAVE BUILT WITH OUR OWN HANDS!"

Several Olympians stood up and let out a warlike cry at Zeus' words, each of them grabbing their weapons and getting ready for the upcoming battle...

oooooooooo

Hermes' alarm was not unjustified at all: some distance away from the sacred mountain that housed the whole Olympian pantheon, the skies were trning a strange, horrific hue of purple, like a infected bruise, and a circle of pure darkness, surrounded in a nimbus of swirling, thundering cloud winked into existence a few seconds later, with a terrifying sucking noise. Gibbering noises and insane chittering could be heard from the depths of the hole... and soon, a vile horde began pouring out of the wound in the sky, like a torrent of foul blood! The skies around Mt. Olympus were soon darkened with a cloud of hideous critters - they resembled monstroud, human-sized bugs with membranous wings and a hooker stinger extending from their bloated abdomen, covered in a black and chitinous armor, a single unblinking blood-red eye implanted in their heads! After them, another group of foul monsters came out, this time resembling filthy birds of prey with dirty, pitch-black feathers and the head of an horrifically ugly human female, complete with long, matter grey hair and large curved fangs in their overlarge mouths. Screams of hatred, pain and rage soon drowned out any other noise, and the mixed group of Pests and Hell Harpies quickly turned to Mt. Olympus and dove towards it in droves!

The foul flying horde was soon within reach of the great city of Olympia, where the terrified citizens were already running for cover, trying to hole up in their homes in a futile attempt to save themselves. Most of them managed to get to temporary safety, but several were grabbed and quickly torn apart by the rampaging demons!

An Hell Harpy grabbed an hapless Olympian citizen by the shoulders, sinking its claws into his tender flesh, and dragged him upwards as he screamed in pain and struggled in a futile attempt to escape the monster's grasp. Then, as if the Hell Harpy decided its prisoner wasn't even worthy of being eaten, it dragged the man upwards, reaching a dizzying height, and uncerimoniously dropped him, sending the man to his death upon the rooftop of one of the houses. The monsters renewed their assaults, heedless of the many Olympus Sentinels and Olympus Archers attempting to come to the citizen's rescue.

A platoon of Olympus Archers shot a fusillade of flaming arrows towards a small swarm of Pests, each hit finding their mark, but few of them managing to do much against the iron-hard armor of the cruel insects, and the Pests soon retaliated by shooting several fireballs from their hand-like stingers. Most Sentinels brought up several large shields made in onix and managed to repel the attack... but a few of them, who had been somehow separated from the rest of the phalanx, were hit and turned into living torches who roared and thrashed for a few seconds, before sliding to the round in a charred, lifeless heap. Then, the hideous sucking noise began again, and another portal opened up right above Olympia, disgorging a smaller, yet still significant, number of great, black-skinned humanoid monsters about twice the height of a man, long curved horns adorning their heads. Each one of them was carrying a wicked-looking curved sword, which they seemed to be able to swing around with great force... and which they immediately began employing to cut down whoever had not been fast enough to seek shelter! In the span of a few minutes, the streets of Olympia had turned into a bloodbath, littered with corpses and the mangled remains of slaughtered citizens, instead of the vital place they had been, and there seemed to be no end to the screams of the dying as the army of minions of Hell continued their rampage. A few of them fell to the swords and arrows launched by the defenders of Olympus... but there were too many of them, and the Olympus Soldiers were unable to stem the hellish tide for long...

A Guardian Devil, one of the black horned sword-carrying monsters, stood upon a woman who had fallen from exhaustion, and gleefully bisected her with a single swipe of his sword, licking the gore from the blade before darting about in search of another prey... which he soon found, or better say, it bumped into him. In front of the Guardian Devil, as if he had appeared out of thin air, stood a large, muscular man with long, flowing white hair and pupilless white eyes, who was regarding the minion of Hell with a daunting attitude, as if daring it to raise his blade against him. Not knowing who it was dealing with, the Guardian Devil grabbed his sword once again and swung at his new victim's midsection, intending to repeat what it had done a few seconds earlier.

Only this time, the seemingly old, yet still tough-looking, man grabbed the curved blade wit his bare hand and snapped it with a single movement of his muscular arm! Stunned by the sudden noise and the unexpected retaliation, the black devil stumbled backwards and looked in horror at the remains of its once mighty weapon... but it had no time to react before Zeus swung his other fist forward, striking the Guardian Devil in its chest with such force that the clenched hand sunk into its flesh and exploded out of its back! Writhing in agony, the Guardian Devil fell to the ground and soon decayed into a pile of flaming dust, that soon burned away to nothing!

Shocked by the ease with which their fellow had been dispatched, the closest minions of Hell stopped their onslaught and backed away, while Zeus raised his glance against them, intimidating them with his mere presence. "FOUL INVADERS! YOU WOULD DARE RAISE YOUR WEAPONS AND YOUR FANGS AGAINST MOUNT OLYMPUS, AGAINST THE BASTION OF PEACE AND PROSPERITY THAT WE REPRESENT?" he bellowed, creating another thunderball in the palm of his right hand, while discarding the broken blade with the other. "THEN COME, LOWLY BEASTS... COME AND RECEIVE YOUR RETRIBUTION! YOU SHALL KNOW THE WRATH OF ZEUS AND THE OLYMPIANS!"

After a few moments of hesitation, several Pests and Hell Harpies let out an hysterical, high-pitched scream of unadulterated rage and rushed Zeus in a massive attack, which the lord of Olympus simply waited for and got ready to counter... but he was denied this chance when a massive blast of water burst from his left and washed over the horde of minions of Hell, dragging them away with lethal force. Zeus' expression did not change one bit, but he glanced at his left in a gesture of approval, as his eldest brother Poseidon, riding atop a terrifying fanged stallion made of water, somehow coerced into the form of a horse, walked into view. Several chains, each one of them topped with a cruelly hooked spike, burst out of the ground and wrapped themselves like hungry serpents around the surviving Hell minions, before impaling them on their sharpened ends... and from Zeus' right, his other brother Hades, king of the Underworld, appeared as well, his head hidden by a terrifying helm, and his bloated body covered in spikes and coarse scales. A pair of chains, each one ended in a pair of gigantic claws coated in a bluish aura, were in his hands.

"JUST LIKE YOU TO MAKE A SPECTACULAR ENTRANCE." Zeus commented in a slightly sarcastic tone, as Poseidon and Hades quickly disposed of the bodies of their victims. "WHAT IS YOUR OPINION ON THESE UNKNOWN INVADERS?"

"WE ARE FACING A STRANGE MENACE INDEED, BROTHER." Hades said in a raspy, gravelly voice as he twirled his claws around, slicing a few more Pests to pieces. "MY CLAWS CANNOT EXTRACT THEIR SOULS FROM THEM. IN FACT, I HAVE LITTLE EVIDENCE THAT THEY EVEN POSSSESS A SOUL IN THE FIRST PLACE. I DO NOT KNOW WHAT SORT OF ABOMINATIONS WE ARE FACING."

"NEITHER DO I, BUT IT MATTERS NOT AT THIS POINT." Poseidon answered over the roar of the rolling waters. "WHAT IS IMPORTANT, FOR NOW, IS TO SMASH THESE IRRITANTS. AFTERWARDS, WE WILL WORRY ABOUT THE PLACE THEY COME FROM."

Zeus nodded. "THESE LOOK LIKE THEY ARE ONLY A SCOUTING FORCE. NOTHING WE SHOULD BE TRULY WORRIED ABOUT. WHOEVER OUR ENEMY IS, HE IS JUST TESTING US TO TAKE OUR MEASURE." he commented. "DO NOT SHOW EVERYTHING YOU HAVE GOT. WE NEED TO KEEP OUR ENEMY GUESSING."

Both of Zeus' older brothers nodded in assent, before rejoining the rest of the battle. With the intervention of the Olympians and their elite fighting force, composed of Labrys Minotaurs, Cyclop Guards, Gorgon Serpents, Chimeras and several more monsters, the tide of the battle was quickly turning against the minions of Hell, who were attempting a fighting retreat from Olympia's agoras (main square). A few stragglers were still left behind, trying to brutalize whatever survivors were around... but more Olympian defenders came along, picking them off one by one.

A Guardian Devil who was trying to batter down a door in order to rampage into a house and kill its inhabitants was suddenly halted by a huge hand grabbing it from behind and throwing it against a wall with such force as to make the wall collapse! With a nenraged roar, the infernal soldier stood up, only to find itself face to face with a towering giant of a man, easily standing over 9 feet tall, with huge muscles and short, neatly cropped brown hair, an hard and vaguely apelike face, and wearing a pair of bronze shoulder guards, along with a large helm, wide pants and leather sandals. His muscular chest was visibly scarred, giving him a warrior's look, and his hands were large enough to crush a man's skull like a watermelon. The huge warrior stepped towards the Guardian Devil, his mere step almost shaking the earth itself!

"Come and get me, beast!" Hercules bellowed. "I will be your opponent!"

The infernal foot soldier roared against and lunged towards Hercules, managing to nick him in the side with his sword... but the demigod took the injury in stride and grabbed the devil before it could attack again, lifted it up and bearhugged it with all of his immense strength, leaving the monster to struggle for a little bit before an hideous noise of snapping bones was heard, and the Guardian Devil convulsed horribly and fell limp, its back snapped clean in two. With a disgusted grunt, Hercules tossed away the corpse, which quickly decayed into a pungent-smelling dust, and focused his attention on the group of enemies in front of him, mostly Hell Harpies who were still itching for a fight. With an amused grin, Hercules grabbed a huge club he had laid at his side and lifted it as if it weighed nothing, daring the feathered fiends to come and take him on...

Several arrow sailed right above his head, skewering a flock of Pests attempting to attack him from the back, and as the insectile monsters fell to the floor, writhing in their death throes, Hercules turned to the direction of the arrows, glancing at the one responsible for the unneeded rescue. Athena was standing several metres away from him, a golden spear hung to her back, and a golden bow in her hands, the string pulled back and ready to shoot more arrows.

"NOT BAD, HERCULES. BUT AS I ALWAYS SAY, YOU LACK FORETHOUGHT." Athena warned him. "YOU WERE ABOUT TO BE SURROUNDED BY THOSE MONSTERS. WILL YOU EVER LEARN THAT YOUR BRUTE STRENGTH ON ITS OWN WILL ONLY CARRY YOU SO FAR?"

"Hmph." the demigod answered cynically. "The Olympians who sit comfortably on their thrones while I run around the Mediterrean doing... labors... for them are not the ones who should be talking here." Then, deciding his personal issues could wait, he began swinging his club around, striking at the monsters who were trying to swarm him. "Bring it on, monsters! You will regret ever crossing Hercules, son of Zeus and Alcmena!"

Athena sighed in resignation, then wen back to work, shooting down as many Pests and Hell Harpies as possible before she was forced to grab her spear and switch to close combat...

oooooooooo

In a whole other part of Olympia, the assault of the minions of Hell was being stopped by a more numerous host of Olympus Sentinels and other monsters, led by a flaming figure who was easily dispatching scores upon scores of the unknown invaders in a whirlwind of blades and bolts of energy. Ares, the god of war, had no choice but to support the other Olympians in the battle, out of fear that otherwise, his plot to overthrow Zeus was going to be unveiled earlier than it was convenient to him. To the god of war, these constant unpredicted events were nothing if not annoying: he already had reason to suspect that Zeus and most other Olympians were on to him, and the unknown invaders coming from seemingly nowhere were not helping his situation any. As he impaled a Guardian Devil on the hooked barbs jutting out of his back, Ares sneered in annoyance, and then tossed the dying body of the infernal soldier aside, before producing a huge spiked warhammer made of finely cut stone out of seemingly nowhere, and spewing forth a powerful flame, incinerating every minion on Hell standing in front of him. A few Olympus soldiers were caught in the blast too, but Ares barely even spared them a thought, and immediately went back to destroying his enemies and venting his frustration...

"_This was just what I did not need._" the warrior god thought bitterly. "_If it was not for these monsters, I would have been able to meet with Alecto and her sisters to discuss how to best modify our plan. But now, I have to help out, or I will end up drawing too much attention to me..._"

Suddenly, a thought came to him, and Ares, after a moment of surprise, smiled wickedly in triumph. "_Then again, nothing forbids me from using this invasion to my advantage. With a little luck, the other Olympians will be far too preoccupied with the new enemy to keep a tight watch upon my own moves. If I time it right, I might be able to still pull off my takeover... earlier than I anticipated! I just need to find out moreabout these outsiders..._"

Deep in the icy depths of Lake Cocytus, the evil entity behind the assault on Olympia smiled viciously to itself, pleased about its plans going exactly the way it had predicted. The Olympians were proving to be just as powerful as it had expected, but its aim had never been to overpower them. For now, simply having their attention was enough. After all, it was just a matter of time before the second of the dark souls it had chosen to free it from its confinement got involved... and soon, when both of them would come to it, it would be free, and nothing would be capable of stopping it.

"_THE GHOST OF SPARTA... AND THE SINFUL CRUSADER. LUCK HAS SERVED THEM TO ME ON A SILVER PLATTER, AND CHANCES ARE THERE TO BE EXPLOITED._" it mused, its claws scratching at the chains bounding it in place. Soon enough, those chains would be nothing but a memory... "_MY PATIENCE WILL PAY OFF IN THE END. IT WILL NOT BE TOMORROW, NOR THE DAY AFTER THAT... BUT SOON, I SHALL BE ABLE TO RECLAIM MY RIGHTFUL PLACE, AND ALL WILL HAVE TO BOW AND WORSHIP ME! A NEW ERA IS AT HAND... AND I WILL BE THE ONE TO START IT!_"

A cavernous, chilling laugh reverberated through the frozen, lifeless caverns of Cocytus, as the entity felt yet another of his bindings fall apart. "_EXCELLENT, DANTE. I WAS RIGHT TO PUT MY HOPES UPON YOU. NOW, TO GIVE YOU A LITTLE MORE... INCENTIVE TO RESCUE YOUR BELOVED BEATRICE. TRY NOT TO DISAPPOINT ME, AND MAKE IT AS ENTERTAINING AS YOU CAN._"

oooooooooo

As Dante began making his way to the top of Cleopatra's Tower in the Circle of Lust, getting ready for the faceoff with the ruler of the second circle of Hell, he stopped just a little before climbing the next set of ominous-looking stairs sneaking their way around the wall of the tower, surrounded by walls lined with spikes, lit torches and the damned who had horribly been fused into the construction, reduced to nothing more than flailing, diseaded limbs forever reaching out for mercy they could never receive, and faced forever distorted in agony. Their horrible screams surrounded Dante, but he paid them no heed, preoccupied as he was with the vision that was slowly materializing in front of him: a diaphanous, ethereal-looking ghost resembling a beautiful young woman with flowing blond hair, gloating weightlessly in the air in front of him. Her eyes were staring at him, in pity and accusation at the same time... and as she spoke, Dante felt his heart froze, through a combination of guilt, shame and denial.

"Beatrice..." the penitent crusader mouthed in disbelief, looking at the girl as if he could not believe his own eyes.

"_Dante... you come for me, yet I was already lost to you..._" she said. "_Did all of your promises hold no meaning? Did you said all that to me in order to assuage your own guilty conscience?_"

"That is not true, and you know it, Beatrice!" Dante tried to protest, even though, even to his own ears, it sounded like he was denying what was plain to see.

"_Minos was right, then, to condemn you as a traitor? A lustful murderer?_" she asked. Her voice was calm, devoid of anger... and for that very reason, it sounded all the more accusing to Dante. "_You said you loved me... you said you would have protected my brother... oh, how those words ring hollow now... but I suppose there is nothing that can be done right now..._"

"Beatrice, wait!" Dante exclaimed, trying to follow the ghost of his beloved as it receded into what looked like a great hole which had opened up in thin air, rolling with feverish purple and black hues. The diaphanous phantom began floating into the passage, still staring wistfully at Dante... and Vergil, knowing of the peril, tried to warn his companion away from that place.

"Dante. Do not follow her." he exclaimed. But it was all in vain, as Dante impulsively followed through and was soon swallowed by the dark passage, leaving the great Roman poet with nothing to do but follow the crusader into the unknown, a spectral tunnel of shrieking and cold that carried the two away to an unknown location, unaware that the all-seeing eyes of Hell were upon them, gleefully watching at the ultimate plan of the emperor of the woeful realm as it got one step closer to ultimate success...

oooooooooo

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	7. A Crusader In Ancient Greece

**God Of War's Inferno**

**oooooooooo**

**Chapter 7 - A Crusader In Ancient Greece**

As far as he could recall, Dante had never experienced anything like that - it might have lasted just a few seconds, or possibly even a couple hours: he had no way to tell how long it had been ever since he followed Beatrice's inage in his desperate attempt to save her, dazzled as he was by the feverish colors and the relentless onslaught of light and darkness his senses had been subject to as he was falling through that strange interruption in the very fabric of reality itself. He couldn't even tell if he was alive or dead, and he realized it was the former only when he heard the buzzing of the cicadas and the sound of untouched nature all around him. The sun was shining brightly upon him, and he could feel the warmth of his rays upon his chest and arms... but this was only a further cause for alarm for the veteran crusader, who quickly opened his eyes and grabbed his sickle with both hands, expecting an attack anytime.

The bright light forced him to squeeze his eyes shut for a few more seconds, and Dante took a few careful steps back, only to realize that he was not treading upon the blasted lands of Hell anymore. He was standing under a bright azure sky, upon what looked like a large clearing covered in tall grass, only a few trees dotting the place here and there. The terrain was very uneven, and tall rocky formations surrounded him, causing Dante to quickly look around, his soldier's instincts warning him of the possibility of an hidden ambusher. Yet, nothing came, and the crusader looked around himself in amazement and worry. Whatever that place was, it was definitely not the Circle of Lust anymore.

"Beatrice! Where are you?" he asked, hoping against hope that his beloved could hear him. "Where am I? What is this place I have stumbled upon?"

He was beginning to fear that he was going to be on his own, when the welcome voice of Virgil came to give an answer, no matter how lacking, to his question. "Dante, it was rash of you to follow Beatrice through." the great Roman poet repriminded him. "You could not know what lied beyond, yet you still ran in where devils fear to tread. What would you have done if the Lords of Hell had set up a trap for you to fall in?"

"I... realize it was foolish on my part, o poet." Dante admitted, realizing that he had just committed an amateur mistake for a soldier as hardened as he was. "But do tell me, where are we now? What sort of trickery are the Lords of Hell trying to place upon us?"

Much to his surprise, Virgil shook his head. "I know not what sort of place this is, Dante." he explained. "This is most certainly not Hell anymore, for such wholesome sights and uncontaminated nature have no place in the realm of eternal punishment. I can only advise you to be very careful."

Dante nodded and began looking around for any possible clue on their whereabouts... when a strange noise, resembling that of horseshoes on unpaved ground, drew his attention, and he quickly turned around, expecting to see some fellow humans on horseback - though the idea sounded rather strange to him: it would have been rather difficult to ride on horseback on that kind of bumpy terrain.

What he actually saw were two strange creatures that looked like an hybrid of man and horse: from their waists upwards, they looked like large, muscular humans, their faces contorted in an angry frown, their hair matted and unkempt, and their barrel chests bare, except for a couple of bronze shoulder guards held by several leather cords. But the lower halves of the newcomers were the legs and the body of an enormous wild horse, covered in brown fur, their hooves polished and looking almost like sharp blades. The most alarming thing, however, were the large lances they were holding with both hands, ending in a razor-sharp point. And judging by the way they were carrying themselves, Dante was not expecting them to greet him peacefully.

"What?" Dante exclaimed. "What manner of creatures are these? Do they not happen to be the fiery Centaurs, who were the masters of all sorts of heroes in the times of the myth?"

"Indeed they are." Virgil answered, himself not sure about what was going on. "Chiron, the one who made Achilles the mighty warrior he became, was amongst their number. Be careful, Dante. With scarce exception, these beasts are hostile and warlike."

As if to confirm the great poet's words, one of the Centaurs neighed wildly, rearing himself up on his hind legs, and bellowed something in a strange tongue Dante couldn't even recognize. Then, he charged head-on, his lance pointed straight at Dante's heart, determined on claiming his victim!

The veteran crusader, his reflexes honed by years of training and experience on the field, saw the charge coming in time and rolled sideways, causing the Centaur to miss his target and keep gallopping past him and through Virgil's incorporeal form. The other Centaur neighed as well and tried to attack Dante by jumping at him and swinging his lance at the scythe-wielding human, who deftly stood up again and blocked the attack with his own weapon. There was a deafening clang of metal against metal as the two weapons met each other in a shower of golden sparks... but the first Centaur, having regained his wits, turned back and tried attacking Dante again. Knowing he would be in great trouble if he had been sandwiched between the two horse-men, Dante quickly broke the contrast and jumped away, meeting the second Centaur's attempt to keep him under pressure with a mighty swing of his scythe. The beast-man reeled back in pain, holding his arm where the curved blade of the sickle had just traced a rather large wound, and giving Dante ample time to meet the other Centaur's attack. As the horse-man tried to get closer and stab Dante with his spear, the crusader grabbed his silver cross and placed it in front of himself. The holy relic shone with a white radiance for a split second, before shooting a trio of similarly-shaped projectiles of pure light towards the opponent. The Centaur stopped dead in his tracks, raising his lance defensively in order to protect himself from the odd weapon... and the cross-shaped beams of light passed harmlessly through his body, leaving the mythological creature weirded out but otherwise fine!

Dante was surprised by the sudden ineffectiveness of his cross, and looked at it for a moment in surprise... but the Centaurs were quick to renew their assaults, and the crusader decided to leave such questions for later. The opponent Dante had already hit dashed in for another thrust, which Dante deftly swayed with his scythe, but the second Centaur was able to slip in and hit the penitent crusader with a punishing kick in the chest! Dante groaned slightly in pain and fell, clutching his chest where his ribs had been bruised, and fought back with a great swipe from his scythe, forcing the two beast-men back some.

"Come, beasts." Dante challenged, showing both of them the pointy end of his weapon. "Come and get me, if you dare. I will not go down that easily."

Both Centaurs neighed and tried closing in, bringing their lances to bear... but Dante saw a split second worth of an opening and quickly dashed between the two of them, avoiding the lethal weapons and slipping behind them. Then, while the enemies were still stunned with surprise, Dante climbed on the back of the Centaur to his left and quickly swung his scythe at the creature's neck! With lightning-quick reflexes, the Centaur lifted his own lance up and blocked the hit... but Dante kept pulling in with all of his strength, shattering the lance with a mighty cleave! The curved blade continued on its path and sliced through the Centaur's neck, quickly separating the head from the rest of the body! Dante quickly jumped off as the Centaur's head fell on the tall grass, and the body took a couple steps forward, and finally collapsed in a pool of thick, tarry red blood.

The other Centaur let out an enraged roar and charged forward, before grabbing Dante with his free hand and tossing him aside like a rag doll, sending him to tumble in the tall grass with a grunt of annoyance. Before Dante could get up, the Centaur tried to leap upon him and skewer his with his lance, which Dante avoided by quickly moving to the side. The pointed end of the lance embedded itself in the ground, and the Centaur angrily stomped the ground with his hooves, trying to squash Dante's head underneath them. Dante grunted in pain as the Centaur kicked him in the shoulder, but this slight injury caused him to jolt to action and quickly pick himself off the ground. He grabbed an handful of dirt from the ground with his free hand and threw it in the Centaur's eyes as he darted to his feet, causing the half-horse half-man creature to roar in anger and stagger backwards, rubbing his eyes. Dante did not waste any time and readied his scythe, pointing its blade forward and charging towards the monster's unprotected chest.

The Centaur was unable to defend himself in time, and the scythe's forward-pointed blade struck it in the chest, tearing through muscle and bone and exiting from the Centaur's back! The creature bellowed and writhed in agony... but, in a last-ditch attempt to bring Dante down with him, he grabbed the scythe's long handle and pulled in, dragging himself towards Dante as the weapon went right through his body! Date was so shocked by the monster's display of bloodthirsty tenacity, that he couldn't relinquish his grip on his scythe, and watched in wide-eyed wonder and horror as the Centaur pulled himself along the handle of his weapon, seemingly indifferent to the pain and the huge blood loss. But in the end, the terrible wound overcame the horse-man's supernatural resistance, and the Centaur let out an angry, gurgling curse and slumped lifelessly on the weapon's handle.

Dante stood for a few moments in place, catching his breath, and then freed his weapon from the Centaur's rapidly cooling body, wiping the blood off the curved blade. Then, he stepped back as the corpse sliid to the ground, wondering what that was all about and, above all, where he was now and why he had been brought there.

"Poet." he said, turning to Virgil and feeling relieved that, at the very least, his guide in the otherworld was still there to provide him with some help. "What just happened to us? What is this place? How can we have crossed over to the realm of torment to this new land?"

"That I know not, Dante. I can only say, everything is going according to the designs of the emperor of the woeful kingdom. Nothing in Hell happens without his knowledge and consent." Virgil answered, sounding genuinely worried and anxious. Dante did not think that the shade of the great poet could actually feel fearful about anything, but there it was. "I fear we are but pawns in a greater game, one only the powers that be have knowledge of all pieces. Be extremely cautious, Dante. Beatrice is but a bait to lure you wherever the enemy wants you to. We will speak again later, but for now, I have to be on my way. Good luck, Dante."

With that said, Virgil faded away once again, and Dante sighed and repaired himself in the shade of a nearby rocky formation, to shield himself from the burning sun. He thought he had grown accustomized to the heat after spending so much time wearing his armor under the scorching heat of the Holy Land, but now he was finding himself having more trouble than expected. Deciding all he could do was look for some sign of civilization, in order to get a better idea of where he was, Dante quickly oriented himself and began walking to the north...

oooooooooo

The sanctum Kratos and his family had been brought to was just what the mighty Spartan warrior would have expected from a place dedicated to the worship of the Olympians. Lavishly decorated, with elegant pillars holding up a majestic ceiling, with several sttues depicting gods and monsters placed in an orderly fashion at the borders of the large room. The Kouretes seemed to enjoy a rather pleasant lifestyle, Kratos noted with silent bitterness, while Lysandra remained stoic about it, and Calliope was too busy being marvelled at the beauty of the place to actually make a comment about it.

However, this was not what Kratos had his mind on at the moment. Rather, he was staring with some distrust at the three human figures, two men and one woman, standing in the innermost part of the room. All three of them had a warrior's countenance about them, though aside from this, they were all different in their own way.

The man on Kratos' farmost left looked somewhat younger than the Spartan hero, but despite this, his face was already quite scarred, and his lips were reduced to a pair of barely-visible lines of scar tissue on the borders of his mouth, as if his face had been seared by flames. His long, blond hair cascaded from his head, unkempt and somewhat dirty, while his chest was bare and bore the signs of several battles, including a nasty-looking scar wound on the left side of his body. Though he didn't show it, Kratos was actually very surprised about that scar - a wound of that size, that close to the heart, was almost certainly a fatality, and he asked himself how could that guy still be up and about to talk about it... and even flaunt a smile, the Ghost of Sparta noticed. Aside from that, the younger man wore a pair of pants and sandals, and was armed with a spear and a round shield upon which the image of a winged horse had been engraved. He surely didn't look like the type who was worried about safety in battle, Kratos thought to himself.

In the middle stood an handsome middle-aged man who still seemed to be in prime physical health, with short dark brown hair and matching moustache and a short-trimmed beard, wearing a bronze breastplate and carrying a short sword in a sheath hanging at his side, as well as a shield similar to that of the young man, and he was wearing a pair of worn-out brown pants and sandals. Kratos noticed that the older man seemed to have very few scars on himself, and those few he had were rather small and did not detract from his pleasant appearence any. And just by a look in the man's bright blue eyes, a rather unusual color for a Greek, Kratos could tell that a fierce intelligence burned behind that steely glare.

The woman, on the other hand, appeared to be in her middle twenties, with long brown hair tied in a ponytail that went down to her waist, and wearing a dark green sleeveless tunic with a surprisingly short skirt, as if she wanted to keep clothing to the bare minimum to cover herself. She also wore a pair of brown sandals that had a somewhat different look than those of the two men, and her only weapon seemed to be a pointed dagger that she was right now gingerly holding in her right hand, absent-mindedly playing with it. However, while she wasn't as heavily armed as the two men, it was plain to see that her muscles were well-trained and her body had strongly toned forms, suggesting she was an athlete of some kind. Which was, again, rather unusual, as in the Greek city-states, women were mostly forbidden to practice any kind of sport.

"These are the warriors Lady Athena has recruited to our cause." the Kourete who was guiding Kratos and his family said, introducing them to the newcomers one by one. "Achilles, the invulnerable son of Peleus and the sea nymph Thetis. Ulysses, the ever-wandering king of Itaca, son of the wise Laertes. And Atlanta, the newly chosen champion of Artemis, fastest runner in the known world, second only to Hermes himself. Lady Athena trusts that you will be able to work together in order to bring Ares' odious plot to a halt."

Kratos didn't readily answer, as he took a disgruntled look at the three warriors standing in front of him. While a capable commander, Kratos had never been much of a team player, and was definitely not happy about the idea that he would be fighting alongside those people as peers rather than subordinates. However, he kept these thoughts to himself, as he stood in his place and regarded the three chosen of Athena with cold, appraising eye.

"So, this is the famed Ghost of Sparta." said Achilles, the blond young man with the scarred face, after taking a glance at Kratos. "I've heard good things about him. I've heard he managed to snatch victory from the jaws of Thanatos many times as a commander of the Spartan army. It will be my pleasure to verify if these claims are true."

Ulysses and Atlanta made no actual comment on Kratos, though Ulysses noted that the ashen-skinned warrior seemed to be rather displased about having to work with three other people. Lysandra and Calliope, for their part, stood back and let Kratos and the other three chosen of Athena size each other up.

"Hmph. Fine then." Kratos finally grunted. "If that is what it takes to destroy Ares and keep my family safe, I will be part of this. Do not expect me to become a friend to these people."

"The feeling is mutual. I am only interested in seeing for myself if the Ghost of Sparta actually lives up to the legend." Achilles said with an uncaring shrug.

Ulysses and Atlanta were more moderate about it. "You do not have to like us, Ghost of Sparta." the king of Itaca answered. "We just ask that you work with us. We have our own reasons for being part of Athena's plan, anyway."

"Works for me." Atlanta answered in a strong, bright voice that spoke of a no-nonsense personality. "We all have our way to go. But for now, we have to work together."

Kratos nodded severely, and Lysandra saw that the Kourete closest to her had a somewhat worried look on his face. He was probably expecting the meeting of the four warriors to be a little more encouraging... but it was going well enough, and it was their best hope to take down Ares the Furies, and bring their plot to a halt. That was what counted, at least for the moment...

oooooooooo

The innermost sanctum of the Furies. A lonely, desolate place where the three ancient beings, borne of the fury of the Primordials' clashes, meted out retribution against those who gone back on their oaths. The three sisters were gathered in the large room, an elegant yet dreary-looking place with floors and walls of cold, desolate white-and-green marble, surrounded by a quietly running stream of water that seemed to be the only source of sound, aside from the chittering thralls that gathered around their three mistresses - hideous mixtures of human and insect traits, composed of the worst of both, they were what remained of several unfortunate prisoners who the Furies had deemed worthy to be turned into the executors of their will and the guardians of their shrine.

Tisiphone, guardian of the gates of Tartarus, floated towards her sisters, her long dark green vest billowing slightly from the movement. As the most mysterious of the three, Tisiphone looked like a tall woman wearing an ornate-looking green tunic with a golden cloak decorated with what looked like a pair of angular horns, which obscured much of her face. She was also wearing several green bands around her arms, and had no footwear at all. However, rarely anyone besides her sisters got to see her true appearence, skilled as she was in hiding behind illusions to get closer to her victims and consign them to their cruel fate.

"The moment is dire, sisters." she began, her voice seemingly changing at a moment's notice, creating the impression that several people were talking at the same time. "Lord Ares has expressed frustration and worry that the plan we concocted to take over Olympus and cast Zeus off that throne he's unworthy of might be in severe jeopardy. The destruction of the Sisters of Fate, as well as Kratos' unpredicted turnabout makes it all the more unpredictable."

"Hmph. So, what do we do? Do we simply sit idle and wait for our plan, which we carefully crafted throughout the centuries, to collapse because that fool Kratos has done something we could not predict?" Megaera answered angrily. While her sisters were quite attractive, even if in a dark, dangerous way, Megaera was just as ugly on the outside as she was on the inside: three gangly spiderlike limbs held up a humanlike body, the actual legs left dangling in the air, the skin an ugly bruise-like purple and dotted with wrinkles and growths. Her face, half-hidden by a golden helmet, was that of a wretched crone with pointed, filed teeth, and her arms ended in a pair of gnarled claws that looked strong enough to disembowel a man with a single slash, while her chest and midriff were protected by thick golden armor. Such an hideous physical appearence was every match with Megaera's cruelty and ruthlessness, as she was the sister who more eagerly took part in sadistic torture sessions.

The final sister and the unofficial leader of the three, Alecto, was instead a darkly beautiful mistress wearing a midnight black dress with matching armor, and an elaborate helmet whose pitch black color scheme created a shocking contrast with her milky white, almost flawless skin. Her face seemed to be perpetually etched in an angry frown, which was in fact quite appropriate for the uncertain standing they had right now. "We need to watch our moves, sister. We failed to punish the oathbreaker last time because of interference from that renegade son of mine. This time, we have to act with the knowledge of what happened."

"Tch." Megaera snarled. "I always knew Orkos was a weakling. We should have disposed of him like the Spartans do with their weak children."

"Indeed we probably should have, sister, yet Orkos was far too valuable a pawn to simply dismiss like that." Tisiphone answered, as her pet Daimon, a blue creature that looked like some crossbreed between an harpy and a dragon, its head like the skull of a bird, perched itself on her shoulders. "Yet, just as Zeus and his allies know what is bound to happen, so do we and Lord Ares. We will not commit the same mistakes twice."

Alecto nodded. "It would be a fool's errand to look for Kratos right now." she stated. "We must gather allies, and wait for the right moment to strike. As unsettling as these unknown invaders have been, they might just be what we and Lord Ares need to strike a decisive blow. But the most important thing to do, right now, is locate my son Orkos and keep him from contacting Kratos. Were he to join forces with the oathbreaker, the risk that the events bringing up to our destruction repeat themselves would be too high to be acceptable. I trust you can take care of the matter, Tisiphone."

The cloaked mistress nodded, and Daimon spread his wings and took flight, delicately holding Tisiphone in his claws as he soared towards the ceiling and flew away to destination unknown. Megaera, once again, did not seem to take kindly to her sister's decision, and was quick to make her opinion known. "Sister! I would like to know what possessed you into sending Tisiphone to take care of this loose end!" she growled. "It would have been better to send me to find that weakling! Tisiphone's methods are too soft!"

"Megaera. I will not have you questioning my decision." Alecto warned sternly. "While he is too soft for us to be of any use, we still need him alive if our plan to weaken Kratos and his allies is to be realized. Try to contain your lust for violence. That will be your undoing one of these days. Surely you have not forgotten what will happen should you decide to go against Kratos on your own?"

Megaera looked at her right arm, the same one Kratos had cut off during their battle at Delos before time had been rewinded. "Hmph... fine. I will concede that point." she admitted grudgingly. "But when Kratos is finally in our hands, I demand that I mete out his punishment for what he did to me!"

"Duly noted." Alecto answered. "Now, I need to look into the unknown invaders that attacked Mt. Olympus recently. Try not to rush into an untenable situation, Megaera."

With that, Alecto's body turned into a pool of a tarry, oil-like black fluid and oozed away through the cracks on the floor, leaving the disgruntled Megaera in the sanctum alone...

oooooooooo

Dante had not kept track of the time as he walked towards his new destination. Luckily for him, he could make out a small village on the horizon, and the sight of some civilization was more than welcome to him. However, he remembered that he was in an unknown land, and that the inhabitants might have been suspicious or even hostile towards him - his instincts as a soldier warned him against getting too complacent and trusting too much, so he decided he would just hang around for a while, trying to watch the eventual inhabitants and see if he could afford to ask for some bread and water. What he would have done later, he did not know... but it was better to concentrate on the here and now for the moment, and leave the more profound questions for later.

Little did he know, he was going to soon make an encounter that would change his fate, even more so that it already had...

oooooooooo

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


End file.
